Growth and characterization of boron carbon nitride films with low dielectric constant

Polycrystalline boron carbon nitride (BCN) films are synthesized by plasma-assisted chemical vapor deposition. Effect of the mercury (Hg) lamp irradiation and annealing processes on the dielectric constant of the BCN films are investigated. The dielectric constant is estimated from the accumulation region of the capacitance-voltage characteristics of Cu/BCN/p-Si samples. It is found that the dielectric constant is reduced by the Hg lamp irradiation or by the annealing process. In comparison with the as-grown BCN film, the B-C bond increases by the irradiation. On the other hand, the C-H and C=C bonds decrease after annealing. A dielectric constant as low as 2.1 is achieved for the BCN film, which is treated by the annealing process. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.