Comparison of mechanical properties and composition of magnetron sputter and plasma enhanced atomic layer deposition aluminum nitride films
A comparative study of mechanical properties and elemental and structural composition was made for aluminum nitride thin films deposited with reactive magnetron sputtering and plasma enhanced atomic layer deposition (PEALD). The sputtered films were deposited on Si (100), Mo (110), and Al (111) oriented substrates to study the effect of substrate texture on film properties. For the PEALD trimethylaluminum–ammonia films, the effects of process parameters, such as temperature, bias voltage, and plasma gas (ammonia versus N2/H2), on the AlN properties were studied. All the AlN films had a nominal thickness of 100 nm. Time-of-flight elastic recoil detection analysis showed the sputtered films t…
Influence of plasma chemistry on impurity incorporation in AlN prepared by plasma enhanced atomic layer deposition
Impurities in aluminum nitride films prepared by plasma enhanced atomic layer deposition using NH3-, N2/H2- and N2-based plasmas are investigated by combining time-of-flight elastic recoil detection analysis (ERDA) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Different atomistic growth mechanisms are found to exist between the plasma chemistries. N2-plasma is shown as not suitable for the low-temperature deposition of AlN. Films deposited by NH3- and N2/H2-based processes are nitrogen rich and heavily hydrogenated. Carbon impurities exist at higher concentrations for the N2/H2-processes. The discovery of nitrile groups in the films indicates that carbon impurities can be partially attribute…
Plasma etch characteristics of aluminum nitride mask layers grown by low-temperature plasma enhanced atomic layer deposition in SF6 based plasmas
The plasma etch characteristics of aluminum nitride (AlN) deposited by low-temperature, 200 °C, plasma enhanced atomic layer deposition (PEALD) was investigated for reactive ion etch (RIE) and inductively coupled plasma-reactive ion etch (ICP-RIE) systems using various mixtures of SF6 and O2 under different etch conditions. During RIE, the film exhibits good mask properties with etch rates below 10r nm/min. For ICP-RIE processes, the film exhibits exceptionally low etch rates in the subnanometer region with lower platen power. The AlN film’s removal occurred through physical mechanisms; consequently, rf power and chamber pressure were the most significant parameters in PEALD AlN film remova…
Structural and chemical analysis of annealed plasma-enhanced atomic layer deposition aluminum nitride films
Plasma-enhanced atomic layer deposition was utilized to grow aluminum nitride (AlN) films on Si from trimethylaluminum and N2:H2 plasma at 200 °C. Thermal treatments were then applied on the films which caused changes in their chemical composition and nanostructure. These changes were observed to manifest in the refractive indices and densities of the films. The AlN films were identified to contain light element impurities, namely, H, C, and excess N due to nonideal precursor reactions. Oxygen contamination was also identified in the films. Many of the embedded impurities became volatile in the elevated annealing temperatures. Most notably, high amounts of H were observed to desorb from the…
Photo-induced electron transfer at nanostructured semiconductor–zinc porphyrin interface
Abstract Electron transfer at metal oxide–organic dye interface on ZnO nanorod (ZnOr) templates was studied by femtosecond absorption spectroscopy method. Further confirmation of the electron transfer was obtained from photoelectrical studies. The fastest electron transfer from zinc porphyrin (ZnP) to semiconductor was observed for ZnOr modified by a 5 nm layer of TiO2 (