Nitridation of Silica Characterized by High-Energy X-Ray Diffraction Technique

The structure of amorphous silicon oxynitride formed under nitridation conditions using ammonia gas, before the onset of silicon nitride crystallization, is determined employing high‐energy X‐ray diffraction (HEXRD) technique. The derived real‐space function suggests that smaller ring structures, especially 3R and 4R (R: ring), which are the dominant rings in crystalline silicon nitride, are not major species in amorphous silicon oxynitride, and form in the latter part of the silicon nitride crystallization.