Ecofriendly silicon dioxide chemical vapor deposition for semiconductor devices using nitrogen monoxide gas source

The release of carbon dioxide (CO₂), chlorofluorocarbon (CH₄), and nitrous oxide (N₂O) emissions from the industrial manufacturing processes involved in semiconductor device fabrication exacerbates climate change and global warming. The most common example is the production of silicon dioxide (SiO₂) using plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) for photovoltaic and/or thin film transistor (TFT) devices utilizing conventional CO₂ and/or N₂O as precursor gases. In this paper, we examine a PECVD-based SiO₂ production for semiconductor devices using nitrogen monoxide (NO) precursor gases. To the best of our knowledge, such SiO₂ production has not before been examined. As a result, the quality of the resulting SiO₂ for the devices is unknown. NO gas seems to a be non-toxic source and has been utilized commonly in medicine. It will be potential to replace CO₂ and N₂O in the future for the ecofriendly purpose of manufacturing semiconductor devices as well. The deposition rate of SiO₂ is seen to be ten times greater when NO precursor gas is used compared to when CO₂ gas is employed. It is noteworthy that an alternate transition occurs from silicon oxide nitride (SiON) to silicon oxide (SiO₂), whereby an increase in the flow of NO gas results in a lower refractive index and dielectric constant. Comprehensive analyses are provided on the process of forming stoichiometric SiO₂.