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Silicon nitride thin film (Si[N.sub.x]) is deposited onto the 3 inch silicon wafer using an electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) plasma apparatus. The plasma parameters from [N.sub.2]-Si[H.sub.4] electron cyclotron resonance plasma are obtained. Radial distribution of radical atom density is determined by optical emission spectroscopy. From the comparison of the uniformities of deposited film thickness, electron density and radical atom density, it was concluded that the uniformity of film thickness is related to that of radical density rather than plasma density. The dependence of the uniformity film thickness on the waveguide mode was also examined.

Self-assembled rare-earth (RE) silicide nanowires (NWs) on semiconductor surfaces are considered as good candidates for creating and investigating one-dimensional electron systems because of their exceptionally anisotropic growth behavior and metallic property. While detailed atomic structures are essential to understand electronic properties of these NWs, there have been only few successful observations of atomic structures with microscopy and reliable structure models are lacking. Here, we reinvestigate gadolinium silicide NWs with high resolution scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). We observe several different structures of Gd silicide NWs depending systematically on their widths, which consist of two distinct structural elements along the wires. The structure of a wide wire can be understood from that of a two dimensional silicide. Based on these STM observations, we propose new structure models of Gd silicide NWs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]