Study of the electronic properties and depth profiles of buried and near-surface silicon nitride layers produced by ion implantation

Buried and near-surface silicon nitride layers with thicknesses ranging from 300 to 20 nm were produced by implanting 15N and 14N ions with 200, 30 and 5 keV/atom in 〈100〉 silicon at room temperature under high vacuum conditions. The stoichiometric ratio of 1.33 in the maximum of the nitrogen depth distributions was adjusted by the fluence. Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy, resonant nuclear reaction analysis and I-V measurements were used to analyse the silicon nitride layers. The specimens were heated up to 1200°C in order to investigate the influence of the annealing treatment on the electrical properties of the silicon nitride layers. It was observed that the prevailing current conduction mechanism of as-implanted and annealed specimens is the Frenkel-Poole-emission.