Development and diagnostic study of the RF nitrogen atom source

Abstract

With the development of thin film technology, particularly the increasing demand for research on group III nitride materials, the need for N ions has significantly increased. A wider and more efficient RF nitrogen atom source specifically designed for nitride film growth has been developed. To evaluate the nitrogen atom density from the RF nitrogen source, a global model of RF nitrogen gas discharge plasma was created. This model was calibrated by measuring the emission spectrum of RF nitrogen gas discharge, and the relationships between nitrogen atom density and actual working pressure, power, and discharge chamber size were determined. It was found that the nitrogen atom density increases with increasing power and initially increases with pressure before decreasing. Finally, the nitrogen atom density was determined, achieving an 18 % nitrogen atom dissociation rate and a nitrogen atom density of 5 × 10¹²/cm³ at an RF power of 400 W. This density is significantly higher than that of nitrogen ions, indicating that this is a nitrogen atom source with high purity.