Fabrication of Metal-insulator-metal Capacitors with SiNx Thin Films Deposited by Plasma-enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition

For integrated passive device (IPD) applications, we have successfully developed and characterized metalinsulator-metal (MIM) capacitors with 2000 Å plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) silicon nitride which are deposited with the SiH4/NH3 gas mixing rate, working pressure, and RF power of PECVD at 250oC. Five PECVD process parameters are designed to lower the refractive index and lower the deposition rate of Si3N4 films for the high breakdown electric field. For the PECVD process condition of gas mixing rate (0.957), working pressure (0.9 Torr), and RF power (60 W), the atomic force microscopy (AFM) root mean square (RMS) value of about 2000 Å Si3N4 on the bottom metal is lowest at 0.862 nm and the breakdown electric field is highest at about 8.0 MV/cm with a capacitance density of 326.5 pF/mm. A pretreatment of metal electrodes is proposed, which can reduce the peeling of nitride in the harsh test environment of heat, pressure, and humidity. [DOI: 10.4313/TEEM.2009.10.5.147]