Monitoring the chemical and structural changes during progressive aqueous alteration of silica thin films deposited by CVD process : accurate thickness loss rates measurements

This study investigates the alteration behaviour in aqueous KOH solution (pH 4) of CVD amorphous silica thin films exhibiting different network qualities. The hydrolysis of the networks was elucidated through ERDA (Elastic Recoil Detection Analysis) hydrogen depth profiles acquired throughout the alteration process. Thickness loss rates were successfully calculated showing remarkably low initial rates ranging from 2.5 to 4.8 nm/day, directly correlated with the initial network quality. A minimal rate as low as 0.5 nm/day, comparable to bulk silica performances, was recorded indicating the limited hydration and hydrolysis mechanisms leading to the release of H4SiO4. These phenomena are occurring with a cyclic hydrolysis–dissolution process. These findings represent the first available dataset on dissolution rates of CVD-deposited silica films. This comprehensive investigation has facilitated the accurate correlation of CVD deposition temperature and, therefore, the network quality of silica films to the chemical and mechanical response to aqueous alteration.

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Publication Details

Journal
npj Materials Degradation
Published
2025-05-28
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41529-025-00610-w
Primary Topic
Semiconductor materials and devices
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00

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article

Monitoring the chemical and structural changes during progressive aqueous alteration of silica thin films deposited by CVD process : accurate thickness loss rates measurements

Thierry Sauvage, Babacar Diallo, Konstantina Christina Topka, Viviane Turq et al.
npj Materials Degradation
Semiconductor materials and devices
article

Monitoring the chemical and structural changes during progressive aqueous alteration of silica thin films deposited by CVD process : accurate thickness loss rates measurements

Thierry Sauvage, Babacar Diallo, Konstantina Christina Topka, Viviane Turq, Vincent Sarou‐Kanian, Emmanuel Véron, Brigitte Caussat, R. Laloo, Nadia Pellerin, Farah Inoubli
article en

Abstract

This study investigates the alteration behaviour in aqueous KOH solution (pH 4) of CVD amorphous silica thin films exhibiting different network qualities. The hydrolysis of the networks was elucidated through ERDA (Elastic Recoil Detection Analysis) hydrogen depth profiles acquired throughout the alteration process. Thickness loss rates were successfully calculated showing remarkably low initial rates ranging from 2.5 to 4.8 nm/day, directly correlated with the initial network quality. A minimal rate as low as 0.5 nm/day, comparable to bulk silica performances, was recorded indicating the limited hydration and hydrolysis mechanisms leading to the release of H4SiO4. These phenomena are occurring with a cyclic hydrolysis–dissolution process. These findings represent the first available dataset on dissolution rates of CVD-deposited silica films. This comprehensive investigation has facilitated the accurate correlation of CVD deposition temperature and, therefore, the network quality of silica films to the chemical and mechanical response to aqueous alteration.

npj Materials DegradationVol. 9(1)
Université d'Orléans (FR), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR), Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (FR), Université Fédérale de Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées (FR), Air Liquide (United Kingdom) (GB), Institut National Polytechnique de Toulouse (FR), Laboratoire de Génie Chimique (FR), Centre Interuniversitaire de Recherche et d’Ingénierie des Matériaux (FR), Limousin Regional Council (FR), Delta Technologies Sud Ouest (France) (FR), Conditions Extrêmes et Matériaux Haute Température et Irradiation (FR)
European Commission, Agence Nationale de la Recherche
Clean water and sanitation
Openalex Percentile: Top 90%
Semiconductor materials and devices
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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