Microwave characteristic of SiON thin film surface passivation on low resistivity silicon wafer

Abstract

This study presents the amorphous silicon-oxy-nitride (SiON) thin film surface passivation layer depositing by very high frequency plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (VHF PECVD) for applying on the application of surface passivation on standard low-resistivity silicon (LR-Si) substrate. The finite-ground coplanar waveguide (FG-CPW) line is fabricated on the SiON/LR-Si structure for investigating the microwave properties. The proposed finite-ground coplanar waveguide line is measured by accurate microwave on-wafer analysis platform up to 60 GHz. The surface passivation layer can improve microwave attenuation of the FG-CPW line. This method can be applied in radio frequency integrated circuit (RFIC).