Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-skm99 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-26T13:46:39.166Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Synthesis of Silicon Carbonitride for the Machining of Resonant Nanomechanical Biosensors

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 February 2011

Lee M. Fishcer ,
Neal Wilding ,
Murat Gel  and
Stephane Evoy
Lee M. Fishcer
Affiliation:
lfischer@ualberta.ca, National Institute for Nanotechnology, Nanodevices and Sensors Group, 9107 - 116th Street, Edmonton, Alberta, T6G 2V4, Canada
Neal Wilding
Affiliation:
nwilding@ualberta.ca, University of Alberta, Electrical and Computer Engineering, 9107 - 116th Street, Edmonton, Alberta, T6G 2V4, Canada
Murat Gel
Affiliation:
gel@ualberta.ca, National Institute for Nanotechnology, Nanodevices and Sensors Group, 9107 - 116th Street, Edmonton, Alberta, T6G 2V4, Canada
Stephane Evoy
Affiliation:
evoy@ece.ualberta.ca, National Institute for Nanotechnology, Nanodevices and Sensors Group, 9107 - 116th Street, Edmonton, Alberta, T6G 2V4, Canada
Get access

Abstract

We report a study on the plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition of silicon carbonitride, as well as the resonant behavior of nanomachined SiCN structures. Films with thicknesses of 1 um, and 200 nm were deposited at varying gas ratios using ammonia (NH3), nitrogen (N2), and diethylsilane (DES) as precursors. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy revealed high nitrogen and low carbon content in films deposited at high NH3:DES gas flow ratios. Selected samples annealed at varying temperatures experienced shifts in stress towards tensile of Δσ = 235 MPa, 432 MPa, 724 MPa, and 1140 MPa, at annealing temperatures of T = 400 °C, 500 °C, 600 °C, and 700 °C respectively. Infrared spectroscopy reported a loss of incorporated hydrogen as a mechanism of stress modulation. Resonant assaying of cantilevers fabricated from 200 nm-thick SiCN yielded root-modulus-over-density values of √(E/ρ) = 6.95 × 103 m/s and √(E/ρ) = 8.35 × 103 m/s, comparable to those of silicon.

Keywords

plasma-enhanced CVD (PECVD) (deposition)annealingnanostructure
Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 924: Symposium Z – Mechanics of Nanoscale Materials and Devices , 2006 , 0924-Z08-12
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2006

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

[1] Ilic, B., Czaplewski, D., Craighead, H.G., Neuzil, P., Campagnolo, C., Batt, C., “Mechanical resonant immunospecific biological detector”, Appl. Phys. Lett., 77(3), 450 (2000).Google Scholar
[2] Ilic, B., Yang, Y., Craighead, H.G., “Virus detection using nanoelectromechanical devices”, Appl. Phys. Lett. 85(13), 2604 (2004)Google Scholar
[3] Ono, T., Esashi, M., “Mass sensing with resonating ultra-thin silicon beams detected by a double-beam laser Doppler vibrometer”, Meas. Sci. Technol. 15, 1977–1981 (2004)Google Scholar
[4] Lavrik, N.V., Datskos, P.G., “Femtogram mass detection using photothermally actuated nanomechanical resonators”, Appl. Phys. Lett. 82(16), 2697–2699 (2003)Google Scholar
[5] Sabate, N., Vogel, D., Gollhardt, A., Keller, J., Cane, C., Gracia, I., Morante, J.R., Michel, B., “Measurement of residual stress by slot milling with focused ion-beam equipment”, J. Micromech. Microeng. 16, 254–259 (2006)Google Scholar
[6] Pant, B.D., Tandon, U.S., “Etching of Silicon Nitride in CCl2F2, CHF3, SiF4, and SF6 Reactive Plasma: A Comparative Study”, Plasma Chem. And Plasma Proc. 19(4), 545–563 (1999)Google Scholar
[7] Carr, D.W., Sekaric, L., Craighead, H.G., “Measurement of nanomechanical resonant structures in single-crystal silicon”, J. Vac. Sci. Technol. B 16(6), 3821 (1998)Google Scholar
[8] Pearce, C.W., Fetcho, R.F., Gross, M.D., Koefer, R.F., Pudliner, R.A., “Characteristics of silicon nitride deposited by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition using dual frequency radio-frequency source”, J. Appl. Phys. 71(4), 1838–1841 (1992)Google Scholar
[9] Stoffel, A., Kovacs, A., Kronast, W., Muller, B., “LPCVD against PECVD for micromechanical applications”, J. Micromech. Microeng. 6, 1–13 (1996)Google Scholar
[10] Claassen, W.A.P., Valenburg, W.G.J.N., Willemsen, M.F.C., Wijgert, W.M.v.d., “Influence of Deposition Temperature, Gas Pressure, Gas Phase Composition, And RF Frequency on Composition and Mechanical Stress of Plasma Silicon Nitride Layers”, J. Electrochem. Soc.:SOLID-STATE SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY 132(4), 893–898 (1985)Google Scholar
[11] Levy, R.A., Chen, L., Grow, J.M., Yu, Y., “A comparative study of plasma enhanced chemically vapor deposited Si-O-H and Si-N-C-H films using the environmentally benign precursor diethylsilane”, Materials Letters 54, 102–107 (2002)Google Scholar
[12] Sekaric, L., Carr, D.W., Evoy, S., Parpia, J.M., Craighead, H.G., “Nanomechanical resonant structures in silicon nitride: fabrication, operation and dissipation issues”, Sensors and Actuators A 101, 215–219 (2002)Google Scholar
[13] Evoy, S., Duemling, M., Jaruhar, T. in Introduction to Nanoscale Science and Technology, edited by Ventra, M. Di, Evoy, S., Heflin, J.R., Boston: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2004, 417–439.Google Scholar