The precise determination by NRA of the relative stoichiometry of silicon nitride thin films on heavy substrates

Abstract

A method has been developed for measuring the relative stoichiometry of silicon nitride films less than 3000 Å thick on heavy substrates. By using (d, p) reactions and a single particle detector, a precision of ± 2% in the relative stoichiometry can be obtained without standards, charge integration or knowledge of the detector solid angle. Measurement of the absolute stoichiometry is dependent on the availability of a suitable standard. An application of this method to a study of the properties of magnetron sputtered Si 3N 4 thin films on GaAs is described.