RÉSUMÉ

Experimental data concerning power and feed gas consumption in rf silane discharges, based on simultaneous voltage and current measurements with mass spectrometry are reported. These measurements are used for the calculation of the power needed for a given silane conversion and for the determination of the electron impact dissociation rate constant, for two different gas pressures. Moreover, the data obtained, along with radical generation profiles, deduced from spatially resolved laser induced fluorescence measurements, are applied in a mathematical model used to predict the precursor concentration profiles in space and the deposition rate due to each of the radicals. The results show that SiH₃ is the most abundant radical, although SiH₂ is the major dissociation product, due to the different gas-phase reactivity of these two species. However, due to the different film growth mechanism for each precursor, SiH₂, as well as SiH and Si seem to have an almost equally important contribution with SiH₃.