We show that Cat-CVD silicon nitride films contain more than 10(19) cm(-3) nitro gen-bonded Si dangling bonds, similarly to the case for conventional CVD films. However, the charge-trapping behavior of the Cat-CVD films is found to be quite different, in spite of the same origin for the dominant defects. The difference is ascribed to a non-uniform distribution of defects that is strongly depleted near the surface in Cat-CVD films.