Low-pressure plasmas, in particular magnetron sputtering discharges, are increasingly used for the deposition of wideband gap semiconductor nitrides films (e.g., GaN or AlN) considering many benefits they exhibit with respect to conventional chemical vapor deposition techniques. Plasma-based solutions enable the dissociation of N2 molecules into N-atoms under conditions that would not be possible with the thermal process. However, as the dissociation rate remains quite small due to the strong nitrogen triple bond, it is somewhat complicated to determine and correlate the N-atoms density in the gas phase with that of the grown film in low-pressure discharges. Therefore, ns-two-photon absorption laser induced fluorescence (TALIF) has been carried out to determine the absolute density of N-atoms as a function of the pressure (tens of Pa range) in a radio-frequency sputtering plasma reactor used for GaN deposition. The TALIF set-up has been optimized using a monochromator and adequate signal processing to enhance the detection limit, enabling the measurement of N-atoms density as low as 1011 cm−3 at 15 Pa. These measurements have been completed with electron density measurements performed in the same pressure range using microwave interferometry, thus providing quantitative data on both electron and N-atom densities that can be used for fundamental understanding, process optimization, and modeling of magnetron discharge intended for nitride semiconductor deposition.
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4 March 2024
Research Article|
March 04 2024
Nitrogen atoms absolute density measurement using two-photon absorption laser induced fluorescence in reactive magnetron discharge for gallium nitride deposition Available to Purchase
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Plasma Sources for Advanced Semiconductor Applications
Lakshman Srinivasan
;
Lakshman Srinivasan
(Conceptualization, Formal analysis, Investigation, Visualization, Writing – review & editing)
1
LPICM-CNRS, Ecole Polytechnique, Institut Polytechnique de Paris
, Palaiseau 91128, France
2
IPVF, Institut Photovoltaïque d'Ile-de-France
, 18 Boulevard Thomas Gobert, 91120 Palaiseau, France
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Laurent Invernizzi
;
Laurent Invernizzi
(Formal analysis, Investigation, Methodology, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing)
3
LSPM-CNRS, Université Sorbonne Paris Nord
, 99 Avenue J. B. Clément, 93430 Villetaneuse, France
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Swaminathan Prasanna
;
Swaminathan Prasanna
(Formal analysis, Methodology, Supervision, Writing – review & editing)
3
LSPM-CNRS, Université Sorbonne Paris Nord
, 99 Avenue J. B. Clément, 93430 Villetaneuse, France
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Kristaq Gazeli
;
Kristaq Gazeli
(Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing)
3
LSPM-CNRS, Université Sorbonne Paris Nord
, 99 Avenue J. B. Clément, 93430 Villetaneuse, France
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Nicolas Fagnon
;
Nicolas Fagnon
(Investigation, Writing – review & editing)
3
LSPM-CNRS, Université Sorbonne Paris Nord
, 99 Avenue J. B. Clément, 93430 Villetaneuse, France
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Pere Roca i Cabarrocas
;
Pere Roca i Cabarrocas
(Writing – review & editing)
1
LPICM-CNRS, Ecole Polytechnique, Institut Polytechnique de Paris
, Palaiseau 91128, France
2
IPVF, Institut Photovoltaïque d'Ile-de-France
, 18 Boulevard Thomas Gobert, 91120 Palaiseau, France
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Guillaume Lombardi
;
Guillaume Lombardi
(Funding acquisition, Project administration, Supervision, Writing – review & editing)
3
LSPM-CNRS, Université Sorbonne Paris Nord
, 99 Avenue J. B. Clément, 93430 Villetaneuse, France
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Karim Ouaras
Karim Ouaras
a)
(Conceptualization, Funding acquisition, Investigation, Methodology, Project administration, Supervision, Visualization, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing)
1
LPICM-CNRS, Ecole Polytechnique, Institut Polytechnique de Paris
, Palaiseau 91128, France
a)Author to whom correspondence should be addressed: [email protected]
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Lakshman Srinivasan
1,2
Laurent Invernizzi
3
Swaminathan Prasanna
3
Kristaq Gazeli
3
Nicolas Fagnon
3
Pere Roca i Cabarrocas
1,2
Guillaume Lombardi
3
Karim Ouaras
1,a)
1
LPICM-CNRS, Ecole Polytechnique, Institut Polytechnique de Paris
, Palaiseau 91128, France
2
IPVF, Institut Photovoltaïque d'Ile-de-France
, 18 Boulevard Thomas Gobert, 91120 Palaiseau, France
3
LSPM-CNRS, Université Sorbonne Paris Nord
, 99 Avenue J. B. Clément, 93430 Villetaneuse, France
a)Author to whom correspondence should be addressed: [email protected]
Appl. Phys. Lett. 124, 104101 (2024)
Article history
Received:
December 20 2023
Accepted:
February 22 2024
Citation
Lakshman Srinivasan, Laurent Invernizzi, Swaminathan Prasanna, Kristaq Gazeli, Nicolas Fagnon, Pere Roca i Cabarrocas, Guillaume Lombardi, Karim Ouaras; Nitrogen atoms absolute density measurement using two-photon absorption laser induced fluorescence in reactive magnetron discharge for gallium nitride deposition. Appl. Phys. Lett. 4 March 2024; 124 (10): 104101. https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0192748
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