Deposition of tensile and compressive stressed materials

A method of depositing tensile-stressed silicon nitride on a substrate, the method comprising:

• (a) placing the substrate in a process zone;
• (b) introducing a process gas into the process zone, the process gas comprising silane, NH3 and N2;
• and
• (c) depositing on the substrate, tensile-stressed silicon nitride having a tensile stress with an absolute value of at least about 1400 MPa, by maintaining in the process zone, an electric field having a field strength of from about 75 V/mil to about 100 V/mil, wherein the electric field is formed by applying a voltage at a power level of less than about 30 Watts across electrodes that are spaced apart by a separation distance of from about 700 mils to about 1000 mils.

A method of depositing compressive-stressed silicon nitride on a substrate, the method comprising:

• (a) placing the substrate in a process zone;
• (b) introducing a process gas into the process zone, the process gas comprising silicon-containing gas and nitrogen-containing gas;
• and
• (c) depositing on the substrate, compressive-stressed silicon nitride having a compressive stress with an absolute value of at least about 2000 MPa, by maintaining in the process zone, an electric field having a field strength of from about 400 V/mil to about 800 V/mil, wherein the electric field is formed by applying a voltage at a power level of at least about 80 Watts across electrodes that are spaced apart by a separation distance that is less than about 400 mils.

A method of depositing compressive-stressed silicon nitride on a substrate, the method comprising:

• (a) placing the substrate in a process zone;
• (b) introducing a process gas into the process zone, the process gas comprising silane, NH3 and N2;
• and
• (c) depositing on the substrate, compressive-stressed silicon nitride having a compressive stress with an absolute value of at least about 2800 MPa, by maintaining in the process zone, an electric field having a field strength of from about 500 V/mil to about 700 V/mil, wherein the electric field is formed by applying a voltage at a power level of at least about 100 Watts across electrodes that are spaced apart by a separation distance of from about 100 mils to about 325 mils.