Low-temperature Deposition of α-Al2O3 Films by Reactive Sputtering Al+α-Al2O3 Target

doi:10.15541/jim20180473

Abstract

Abstract:

Low-temperature deposition of α-Al₂O₃ film is the key to expand its industrial applications. Al, α-Al₂O₃ and Al + 15wt% α-Al₂O₃ targets were used to deposit alumina films on Si(100). The as-deposited films by radio frequency magnetron sputtering (RFMS) were analyzed by grazing incidence X-ray diffraction (GIXRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), and the nano-hardness was measured by depth-sensing indentation method. The results show that the single phase α-Al₂O₃ films were successfully deposited by reactive sputtering the Al+α-Al₂O₃ composite target at 550 ℃. When deposited at the substrate temperature of 550 ℃, the α-Al₂O₃ sputtered from the target preferentially form α-Al₂O₃ nucleus which could suppress the formation of γ phase, and promote the homoepitaxial growth of the α-Al₂O₃ to obtain the single phase α-Al₂O₃ films.

Key words: α-Al₂O₃, reactive sputtering, composite target, low-temperature deposition, nano-indentation

CLC Number:

TQ174

CHENG Yi-Tian, QIU Wan-Qi, ZHOU Ke-Song, LIU Zhong-Wu, JIAO Dong-Ling, ZHONG Xi-Chun, ZHANG Hui. Low-temperature Deposition of α-Al₂O₃ Films by Reactive Sputtering Al+α-Al₂O₃ Target[J]. Journal of Inorganic Materials, 2019, 34(8): 862-866.

Figures/Tables 7

Fig. 1 Schematic diagram of the experimental setup of Radio Frequency (RF) magnetron sputtering system

Table 1 The elementary compositions of the films deposited at 550 ℃ from various targets

Target	Compositions of the films/at%
Target	Al	O	O/Al
Al	39.14	60.86	1.56
α-Al₂O₃	40.57	59.43	1.47
Al+α-Al₂O₃	38.26	61.74	1.61

Fig. 2 GIXRD patterns of the films deposited at 550 ℃ from Al target and α-Al2O3 target

Fig. 3 GIXRD patterns of the film deposited at 550 ℃ from α-Al2O3 target and Al+α-Al2O3 composite target

Fig. 4 GIXRD pattern of the film deposited from Al+α-Al2O3 composite target at 500 ℃

Fig. 5 TEM micrographs of the films deposited at 500 ℃from (a) α-Al2O3 and (b) Al+α-Al2O3 composite targets

Fig. 6 (a) P-h curves and (b) Hardness of the alumina films deposited from different targets at 550 ℃

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Low-temperature Deposition of α-Al₂O₃ Films by Reactive Sputtering Al+α-Al₂O₃ Target

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