Pyrolysis of various organosilazanes used as single precursor of SiNxCy:H films OMCVD process

Abstract The gaseous by-products of the thermal decomposition of three organosilazanes have been analysed in an atmospheric chemical vapour deposition (CVD) reactor by coupled gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. A reaction mechanism, initiated at low temperature by the selective SiCH 3 bond homolysis, allows an explanation of the gas-phase composition and the main feature of the SiN x C y :H films deposited using these organosilazanes precursors. Correlations between the growth results and the variation of the gas-phase composition give evidence of an increase in the contribution of an homogeneous decomposition to the overall growth process with the hydrogen partial pressure. This model mechanism shows how the microstructure of materials prepared by organometallic CVD process is often influenced by the molecular structure of the precursor.