Role of ions in SiO₂ deposition with pulsed and continuous helicon plasmas

Good-quality silicon dioxide films have been deposited at low temperature (≤200 °C) using continuous and pulsed oxygen/silane plasmas coupled in a high-density, low-pressure helicon reactor. Although the total ion flux determines many of the structural properties of the deposited oxide, we have found that silicon-containing ions contribute to the film growth (up to 50 %) and appear to be responsible for the measured compressive stress.