Patent ID: 7807225

Claim:
A high-density plasma method for forming a non-stoichiometric SiO x N y thin-film, the method comprising: providing a substrate; introducing a silicon (Si) precursor; depositing a thin-film overlying the substrate, using a high, density (HD) plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) process as follows: supplying power to a top electrode at a frequency in the range of 13.56 to 300 megahertz (MHz), and a power density of up to 10 watts per square centimeter (W/cm2); supplying power to a bottom electrode at a frequency in the range of 50 kilohertz to 13.56 MHz, and a power density of up to 3 W/cm2; using an atmospheric pressure in the range of 1 to 500 mTorr; and supplying an oxygen source gas selected from the group consisting of N2O, NO, O2, and O3, and a hydrogen source gas; and, forming a non-stoichiometric SiO x N y thin-film with embedded nanocrystalline silicon, where (X+Y<2 and Y>0), as follows: in a first process performed on a first substrate, supplying the non-stoichiometric SiO x N y thin-film with a first refractive index (n) responsive to a first ratio of hydrogen to silicon precursor; and, in a second process performed on a second substrate overlying the first substrate, increasing the refractive index (n) of the non-stoichiometric SiO x N y thin-film, with respect to the first refractive index, in response to increasing the ratio of hydrogen to silicon precursor.