Purpose

This study aims to investigate the effect of temperature applied at the initial deposition of Aluminium Nitride (AlN) thin-film on a silicon substrate by high-power impulse magnetron sputtering (HiPIMS) technique.

Design/methodology/approach

HiPIMS system was used to deposit AlN thin film at a low output power of 200 W. The ramping temperature was introduced to substrate from room temperature to maximum 100°Cat the initial deposition of thin-film, and the result was compared to thin-film sputtered with no additional heat. For the heat assistance AlN deposition, the substrate was let to cool down to room temperature for the remaining deposition time. The thin-films were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and atomic force microscope (AFM) while the MIS Schottky diode characteristic investigated through current-voltage response by a two-point probe method.

Findings

The XRD pattern shows significant improvement of the strong peak of the c-axis (002) preferred orientation of the AlN thin-film. The peak was observed narrowed with temperature assisted where FWHM calculated at 0.35° compared to FWHM of AlN thin film deposited at room temperature at around 0.59°. The degree of crystallinity of bulk thin film was improved by 28% with temperature assisted. The AFM images show significant improvement as low surface roughness achieved at around 0.7 nm for temperature assisted sample compares to 3 nm with no heat applied.

Originality/value

The small amount of heat introduced to the substrate has significantly improved the growth of the c-axis AlN thin film, and this method is favorable in the deposition of the high-quality thin film at the low-temperature process.

中文翻译：

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通过温度辅助 HiPIMS 技术改善 c 轴 (002) AlN 晶面

目的

本研究旨在研究通过高功率脉冲磁控溅射 (HiPIMS) 技术在硅衬底上初始沉积氮化铝 (AlN) 薄膜时施加的温度的影响。

设计/方法/方法

HiPIMS 系统用于以 200 W 的低输出功率沉积 AlN 薄膜。在薄膜初始沉积时将斜坡温度从室温引入到最高 100°C，并将结果与​​薄膜进行比较无需额外加热即可溅射。对于热辅助 AlN 沉积，在剩余的沉积时间内让基板冷却至室温。薄膜通过 X 射线衍射 (XRD) 和原子力显微镜 (AFM) 进行表征，而 MIS 肖特基二极管的特性通过两点探针方法通过电流-电压响应进行研究。

发现

XRD图谱显示出AlN薄膜c轴(002)择优取向强峰的显着改善。观察到峰在温度辅助下变窄，其中 FWHM 计算为 0.35°，而在室温下沉积的 AlN 薄膜的 FWHM 约为 0.59°。在温度辅助下，块体薄膜的结晶度提高了 28%。AFM 图像显示出显着改善，因为温度辅助样品在 0.7 nm 左右实现的低表面粗糙度与未加热的 3 nm 相比。

原创性/价值

引入基板的少量热量显着改善了c轴AlN薄膜的生长，该方法有利于低温工艺中高质量薄膜的沉积。