Sputter deposition of semicrystalline tin dioxide films

Tin dioxide is emerging as an important material for use in copper indium gallium diselenide based solar cells. Amorphous tin dioxide may be used as a glass overlayer for covering the entire device and protecting it against water permeation. Tin dioxide is also a viable semiconductor candidate to replace the wide band gap zinc oxide window layer to improve the long-term device reliability. The film properties required by these two applications are different. Amorphous films have superior water permeation resistance while polycrystalline films generally have better charge carrier transport properties. Thus, it is important to understand how to tune the structure of tin dioxide films between amorphous and polycrystalline. Using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Hall-effect measurements, we have studied the structure and electrical properties of tin dioxide films deposited by magnetron sputtering as a function of deposition temperature, sputtering power, feed gas composition and film thickness. Films deposited at room temperature are semicrystalline with nanometer size SnO₂ crystals embedded in an amorphous matrix. Film crystallinity increases with deposition temperature. When the films are crystalline, the X-ray diffraction intensity pattern is different than that of the powder diffraction pattern indicating that the films are textured with (101) and (211) directions oriented parallel to the surface normal. This texturing is observed on a variety of substrates including soda-lime glass (SLG), Mo-coated soda-lime glass and (100) silicon. Addition of oxygen to the sputtering gas, argon, increases the crystallinity and changes the orientation of the tin dioxide grains: (110) XRD intensity increases relative to the (101) and (211) diffraction peaks and this effect is observed both on Mo-coated SLG and (100) silicon wafers. Films with resistivities ranging between 8 mΩ cm and 800 mΩ cm could be deposited. The films are n-type with carrier concentrations in the 3 × 10¹⁸ cm^− 3 to 3 × 10²⁰ cm^− 3 range. Carrier concentration decreases when the oxygen concentration in the feed gas is above 5%. Electron mobilities range from 1 to 7 cm²/V s and increase with increasing film thickness, oxygen addition to the feed gas and film crystallinity. Electron mobilities in the 1-3 cm²/V s range can be obtained even in semicrystalline films. Initial deposition rates range from 4 nm/min at low sputtering power to 11 nm/min at higher powers. However, deposition rate decreases with deposition time by as much as 30%.     

Electrodeposition and characterization of cuprous oxide

Films of cuprous oxide were electrodeposited potentiostatically and galvanostatically on a variety of substrates. The usable range of deposition parameters was determined and discussed. Uniform and adherent films of thickness up to 6 μm could be deposited galvanostatically and to higher values potentiostatically. The films were polycrystalline with grains of a few micrometers in size when deposited at 60 °C and one order of magnitude smaller when deposited at 49 °C. Regardless of the mode of deposition, the temperature of deposition and also the type of substrate, deposited films were highly oriented along the (100) plane parallel to the substrate surface. The composition of the films was found to be Cu₂O with an optical band gap of 1.95 eV.     

Tungsten chemical vapor deposition using tungsten hexacarbonyl: microstructure of as-deposited and annealed films

Tungsten (W) films were deposited on Si(100) from tungsten hexacarbonyl, [W(CO)₆], by low-pressure chemical vapor deposition (CVD) in an ultra-high vacuum (UHV)-compatible reactor. The chemical purity, resistivity, crystallographic phase, and morphology of the deposited films depend markedly on the substrate temperature. Films deposited at 375°C contain approximately 80 at.% tungsten, 15 at.% carbon and 5 at.% oxygen. These films are polycrystalline β-W with a strong (211) orientation and resistivities of >1000 μΩ cm. Vacuum annealing at 900°C converts the metastable β-W to polycrystalline -W, with a resistivity of approximately 19 μΩ cm. The resultant -W films are porous, with small randomly oriented grains and nanoscale (<100 nm) voids. Films deposited at 540°C are high-purity (>95 at.%) polycrystalline -W, with low resistivities (18–23 μΩ cm) and a tendency towards a (100) orientation. Vacuum annealing at 900°C reduces the resistivity to approximately 10 μΩ cm, and results in a columnar morphology with a very strong (100) orientation.     

Structural and Magnetic Studies of CoCr Thin Films Prepared by Physical Vapor Deposition

We use physical vapor deposition (PVD) to produce, under vacuum, CoCr thin films onto Si (100) and glass substrates. The thicknesses of the samples were measured with a DEKTAK 150 profilometer and the micro structural properties were studied using a Siemens D500 X-ray diffractometer. The static magnetic characterization was done by means of an Alternating Gradient Field Magnetometer (A.G.F.M.) 2900 MicroMag. The films deposited on Corning glass are amorphous. Among all the samples deposited on Si(100) with thickness ranging from 100 nm to 340 nm, only those with thickness 163 nm, 178 nm and 340 nm are polycrystalline and present a hexagonal close-packed (h.c.p.) structure with 〈0001〉 texture. The magnetization curve study infers that all the samples present a planar ferromagnetic anisotropy. The maximum saturation magnetization M _s value being 400 emu/cm³, the coercive field decreases vs. thickness beyond a maximum value (178 nm). All these results will be presented and discussed.     

An atomic force microscope study of surface roughness of thin silicon films deposited on SiO/sub 2/

Atomic force microscope analysis, with a resolution of /spl lsim/1.1 nm, shows that peak-to-peak surface roughness (/spl Delta/h/sub p-p/) of amorphous silicon films thinner than /spl ap/50 nm on silicon dioxide can be controlled to better than 5 nm. Low-pressure, chemically-vapor-deposited silicon films on silicon dioxide initially show an approximately linear increase in the surface roughness due to growing nuclei as the deposition progresses, followed by a decrease in the surface roughness as growth nuclei coalesce. A simple model based on random nucleation and nuclei growth displays similar trends. Films deposited on rougher substrates show more surface roughness. Surface treatment during the predeposition cleaning process does not significantly affect /spl Delta/h/sub p-p/. As a means of producing smooth surfaces, films thinner than about 20 nm are first deposited more thickly than needed, and then etched back to the desired dimension; the use of a binary HNO/sub 3/ and HF etching process improves roughness control. Boron-ion implanted and subsequently crystallized 45-nm-thick Si films show significant smoothing with /spl Delta/h/sub p-p//spl ap/2.2 nm. Thin amorphous silicon films deposited by source evaporation are attractive because they can be deposited at room temperature, and have smoother surfaces (/spl Delta/h/sub p-p//spl ap/2.5 nm) than comparable films produced by chemical vapor deposition.     

Pulsed-laser deposition of textured cerium oxide thin films on glass substrates at room temperature

Cerium oxide thin films are deposited on glass by pulsed laser deposition at room temperature and characterized by X-ray diffraction and atomic force microscopy. The effects of ambient gas, rate of deposition and fluence on growth of films have been studied. The films grown in forming gas and with a high rate of deposition are polycrystalline and show preferential orientation along <011> direction with a roughness of ∼ 2 nm. Films prepared in oxygen have low crystallinity.     

SiC-B4C复合膜的制备及其力学和热电性能

探索了 SiC-B₄C复合膜的热等离子体 PVD(TPPVD)法快速制备,研究了 SiC-B₄C复合膜的力学性能和热电性能。实验结果表明:以 SiC和 B₄C超细粉为原料的热等离子体PVD(TPPVD)法是快速制备 SiC-B₄C复合膜的有效方法。通过控制 SiC和 B₄C粉末的供给,可以获得具有层状结构的 SiC-B₄C致密优质复合膜,最大沉积速度达356 nm/s,高于常规 PVD和 CVD法两个数量级。膜的硬度随 B₄C含量增加而增大,最大显微维氏硬度达到 35 GPa。SiC-B₄C复合膜的电阻率和 Seebeck系数随 B₄C含量增加而减小。最大 Seebeck系数为 550 μVK-1,在 973 K时最大功率因子达到640 μWm-1K-2,是SiC烧结体的21倍。      

Pressure dependent structural and optical properties of silicon carbide thin films deposited by hot wire chemical vapor deposition from pure silane and methane gases

Silicon carbide (SiC) thin films were deposited using hot wire chemical vapor deposition technique from silane (SiH₄) and methane (CH₄) gas precursors. The effect of deposition pressure on structural and optical properties of SiC films was investigated. Various spectroscopic methods including Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, Raman scattering spectroscopy, Auger electron spectroscopy, and UV–Vis–NIR spectroscopy were used to study these properties. Films deposited at low deposition pressure were Si-rich, and were embedded with nano-crystals of silicon. These films showed strong absorption in the visible region and had low energy band gaps. Near stoichiometric SiC film, were formed at intermediate deposition pressure and these films were transparent in the visible region and exhibited a wide optical band gap. High deposition pressures caused inhomogeneity in the film as reflected by the increase in disorder parameter and low refractive index of the films. This was shown to be due to formation of sp ² carbon clusters in the film structure.     

Thermal Characterization of SiC Amorphous Thin Films

The cross-plane thermal conductivity of SiC amorphous films was measured employing the transient thermoreflectance technique. The SiC films were deposited on silicon substrates by RF magnetron sputtering at room temperature. The thickness of the films was varied in the range from 100?nm to 2500?nm to analyze the size effect. The results found that the thermal conductivity of the SiC thin films is significantly smaller than that of the SiC material in bulk form. The small thermal conductivity stems from the structural disorder of the films, which was confirmed by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction. In addition, the contribution of the thermal boundary resistance to the thermal conductivity of the films is discussed.     

Structural and electrical properties of RuO2 thin films prepared by rf-magnetron sputtering and annealing at different temperatures

Conductive ruthenium oxide (RuO₂) thin films have been deposited at different substrate temperatures on various substrates by radio-frequency (rf) magnetron sputtering and were later annealed at different temperatures. The thickness of the films ranges from 50 to 700 nm. Films deposited at higher temperatures show larger grain size (about 140 nm) with (200) preferred orientation. Films deposited at lower substrate temperature have smaller grains (about 55 nm) with (110) preferred orientation. The electrical resistivity decreases slightly with increasing film thickness but is more influenced by the deposition and annealing temperature. Maximum resistivity is 861 μΩ cm, observed for films deposited at room temperature on glass substrates. Minimum resistivity is 40 μΩ cm observed for a thin film (50 nm) deposited at 540°C on a quartz substrate. Micro-Raman investigations indicate that strain-free well-crystallized thin films are deposited on oxidized Si substrates.     

Structural, electrical and optical characterization of N- and P-type SiC:H films deposited using ECR-CVD

Hydrogenated silicon carbide films (SiC:H) were deposited using the electron cyclotron resonance chemical vapour deposition (ECR-CVD) method from a mixture of methane, silane and hydrogen, and using diborane and phosphine as doping gases. The effects of changes in the diborane and phosphine levels on the optical bandgap and conductivity were investigated. In the case of boron-doped films, there is evidence from Raman scattering analysis to show that films deposited at a low microwave power of 150 W were largely amorphous and the bandgap decreases as the diborane levels are highly conductive and contains the whereas films deposited at a high microwave power of 800 W at low diborane levels are highly conductive and contains the silicon microcrystalline phase. These films become amorphous as the diborane level is increased, while the optical bandgap remains relatively unaffected throughout the entire range of diborane levels investigated. In the case of phosphorus-doped films, Raman scattering analysis showed that the deposition conditions strongly influence the structural, optical and electrical properties of the SiC:H films. Unlike boron doping, doping with phosphorus can have the effect of increasing the silicon microcrystalline phase in the SiC:H films which were prepared at low (150 W) and high (600 W) microwave powers. Films prepared at high microwave power showed only small variations in the optical bandgap, suggesting that good phosphorus doping efficiency can be achieved in films which contain the silicon microcrystalline phase (mc-SiC:H).     

Growth and characterisation of SiC films deposited on a-SiO2/Si (100) substrates

Abstract

The growth of polycrystalline SiC films has been carried out by low pressure chemical vapour deposition in a horizontal quartz reaction chamber using tetramethylsilane and H2 as the precursor gas mixture. Silicon (100) wafers were used as substrates. A thin Si O₂ amorphous layer of ~6 nm was formed before SiC deposition to reduce the strain induced by the 8% difference in thermal expansion coefficients between SiC and Si. Samples were. analysed by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and infrared reflectivity. The structure of films grown at temperatures between 950 and 1150°C varies from amorphous to polycrystalline SiC. Preferential [111] orientation and columnar growth of polycrystalline films develops with increasing temperature.

MST/3317     

SiO2层上沉积的纳米多晶硅薄膜及其特性

采用低压化学气相沉积(LPCVD)系统以高纯SiH4为气源,在p型10.16 cm<100>晶向单晶硅衬底SiO2层上制备纳米多晶硅薄膜,薄膜沉积温度为620℃,沉积薄膜厚度分别为30 nm、63 nm和98 nm.对不同薄膜厚度的纳米多晶硅薄膜分别在700℃、800℃和900℃下进行高温真空退火.通过X射线衍射(XRD)、Raman光谱、扫描电子显微镜(SEM)和原子力显微镜(AFM)对SiO2层上沉积的纳米多晶硅薄膜进行特性测试和表征,随着薄膜厚度的增加,沉积态薄膜结晶显著增强,择优取向为<111>晶向.通过HP4145B型半导体参数分析仪对沉积态掺硼纳米多晶硅薄膜电阻I-V特性测试发现,随着薄膜厚度的增加,薄膜电阻率减小,载流子迁移率增大.     

Fabrication and testing of bulk micromachined silicon carbide piezoresistive pressure sensors for high temperature applications

This paper explores the development of high-temperature pressure sensors based on polycrystalline and single-crystalline 3C-SiC piezoresistors and fabricated by bulk micromachining the underlying 100-mm diameter (100) silicon substrate. In one embodiment, phosphorus-doped APCVD polycrystalline 3C-SiC (poly-SiC) was used for the piezoresistors and sensor diaphragm, with LPCVD silicon nitride employed to electrically isolate the piezoresistor from the diaphragm. These piezoresistors fabricated from poly-SiC films deposited at different temperatures and doping levels were characterized, showing -2.1 as the best gauge factor and exhibited a sensitivities up to 20.9-mV/V*psi at room temperature. In a second embodiment, epitaxially-grown unintentionally nitrogen-doped single-crystalline 3C-SiC piezoresistors were fabricated on silicon diaphragms, with thermally grown silicon dioxide employed for the piezoresistor electrical isolation from the diaphragm. The associated 3C-SiC/SiO/sub 2//Si substrate was fabricated by bonding a (100) silicon wafer carrying the 3C-SiC onto a silicon wafer with thermal oxide covering its surface. The 3C-SiC handle wafer was then etched away in KOH. The diaphragm was fabricated by time etching the silicon substrate. The sensors were tested at temperatures up to 400/spl deg/C and exhibited a sensitivity of 177.6-mV/V*psi at room temperature and 63.1-mV/V*psi at 400/spl deg/C. The estimated longitudinal gauge factor of 3C-SiC piezoresistors along the [100] direction was estimated at about -18 at room temperature and -7 at 400/spl deg/C.     

On morphological, structural and electrical properties of vacuum deposited pentacene thin films

Films of different thickness (50, 100, 150 and 200 nm) were deposited by thermal evaporation in vacuum on two types of substrates glass and ITO. The deposition was performed under a pressure of 10⁻⁶ mB with a rate of 0.25 nm/s. Films surface investigations showed morphological and structural changes in function of films thickness and the nature of the substrate. Films optical transmission was analysed in the 280-1600 nm spectral range and the electrical measurements were done in low vacuum (10⁻¹:10⁻² mB) and in dark.     

Growth mechanism investigation of SnO2 thin films deposited by aerosol pyrolysis for biosensor applications: Importance of the thickness

Transparent conductive oxide films are suitable sensitive layers for gas sensors and biosensors, provided that their intrinsic properties are controlled, notably considering their thickness dependence. The present paper reports on a study of the variation of some physical properties of polycrystalline Sb doped SnO₂ films according to the film thickness. Films were deposited onto Si and glass substrates by aerosol pyrolysis. Their thickness was varied in a range of 20-280 nm. The electrical resistivity, the roughness, the optical constant, the microstructure and the texture were investigated. Correlated evolutions of the resistivity and the surface roughness are found in relation with the evolutions of both the microstructure and the texture. Two main successive growth steps were evidenced which are delimited by a critical film thickness. Below this thickness of approximately 100-120 nm, a strong dependence of physical properties with the thickness is evidenced whereas for thicker films no significant change is evidenced. A two-step growth model is proposed to explain this behaviour. This mechanism growth is to be considered in view of the integration of SnO₂ films as sensitive layers in biosensors. Notably, in the case of biosensors based on the label-free electrochemical detection of biomolecules, it is recommended to use films with thicknesses ranging above the critical thickness value of 100-120 nm in order to obtain optimized, reproducible and comparable responses of biosensors.     

Optical,structural and electrical characteristics of aluminum oxynitride thin films deposited in an Ar-N gas mixture RF-sputtering system

The optical, structural and electrical characteristics of aluminum oxynitride thin films deposited on silicon by rf-sputtering under a fixed oxygen flow and two different Ar and N gas flows are reported. The stoichiometry of the films was studied by EDS as a function of the deposition parameters. In general, the relative oxygen content within the films was higher for a high N/Ar (5/1) gas flow ratio, these films presented refractive indexes in the range of 1.5–2.0, with deposition rates close to 4.0 nm/min, and surface roughness of approximately 13 Å. Films deposited with a low N/Ar (1/5) flow ratio presented refractive indexes in the range of 1.7 to 2.0, deposition rates of 7 nm/min and surface roughness of 26 Å. IR spectroscopy measurements on these films presented an absorption band spreading from 500 to 900 cm^?1. The width and peak of this band depends on the rf power and correlates with the oxygen content in the films. Films with the best electrical characteristics present an average dielectric constant of 7.2 and 8.7 standing electric fields up to 4.5 and 2 MV/cm without observing destructive dielectric breakdown for high and low N/Ar gas ratios respectively.     

Deposition and characterization of SiC and cordierite thin films grown by pulsed laser evaporation

Thin films of SiC and cordierite were deposited on Si (100) by pulsed laser evaporation (PLE) technique at various substrate temperatures. Auger, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and grazing incidence X-ray diffraction were used to investigate the stoichiometry, chemistry, and structure of the PLE-deposited films. The results indicate that properties of SiC films were affected by the substrate temperature. The SiC films grown at 25 °C were amorphous and were a physical mixture of silicon, carbon and very little SiC. The films deposited at 500 and 900 °C substrate temperature were polycrystalline SiC. The as-deposited cordierite films were stoichiometric crystalline.     

Effect on thickness of Al layer in poly-crystalline Si thin films using aluminum(Al) induced crystallization method

The polycrystalline silicon (poly-Si) thin films were prepared by aluminum induced crystallization. Aluminum (Al) and amorphous silicon (a-Si) layers were deposited using DC sputtering and plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition method, respectively. For the whole process Al properties of bi-layers can be one of the important factors. In this paper we investigated the structural and electrical properties of poly-crystalline Si thin films with a variation of Al thickness through simple annealing process. All samples showed the polycrystalline phase corresponding to (111), (311) and (400) orientation. Process time, defined as the time required to reach 95% of crystalline fraction, was within 60 min and Al(200 nm)/a-Si(400 nm) structure of bi-layer showed the fast response for the poly-Si films. The conditions with a variation of Al thickness were executed in preparing the continuous poly-Si films for solar cell application.     

SiC/C薄膜的制备及其力学性能

以SiC 超细粉为原料、采用热等离子体物理气相沉积( TPPVD) 技术快速制备出了高质量SiC/ C 薄膜, 最大沉积速度达到225 nm/ s, 高于常规物理气相沉积( PVD) 和化学气相沉积(CVD) 法两个数量级。用扫描电子显微镜、高分辨透射电子显微镜和X 射线光电子谱对薄膜的形貌和微结构进行了观察和分析, 并用纳牛力学探针测定了薄膜的力学性能。研究结果表明, 向等离子体中导入CH₄, SiC/ C 薄膜沉积速度增大, 薄膜中C 含量增加, 薄膜断面呈现柱状结构。薄膜硬度和弹性模量随薄膜中C 含量增加而降低, 在接触深度为40 nm 时由纳牛力学探针测得沉积薄膜的最大硬度达到38 GPa。