Bulge testing and fracture properties of plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposited silicon nitride thin films

The mechanical properties and fracture behavior of silicon nitride (SiNx) thin film fabricated by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition is reported. Plane-strain moduli, prestresses, and fracture strengths of silicon nitride thin film; deposited both oil a bare Si substrate and oil a thermally oxidized Si substrate were extracted using bulge testing combined with a refined load-deflection model of long rectangular membranes. The plane-strain modu i and prestresses of SiNx thin films have little dependence on the substrates, that is, for the bare Si substrate, they are 133 +/- 19 GPa and 178 +/- 22 MPa, respectively, while for the thermally oxidized substrate, they are 140 +/- 26 Gila and 194 +/- 34 MPa, respectively. However, the fracture strength values of SiNx films grown on the two substrates are quite different, i.e., 1.53 +/- 0.33 Gila and 3.08 +/- 0.79 GPa for the bare Si substrate a A the oxidized Si substrate, respectively. The reference stresses were computed by integrating the local stress of the membrane at the fracture over the edge, Surface, and volume of the specimens and fitted with the Weibull distribution function. For SiNx thin film produced oil the bare Si Substrate, the Volume integration gave a significantly better agreement between data and model, implying that the volume flaws re the dominant fracture origin. For SiNx thin film grown on the oxidized Si substrate, the fit quality of surface and edge integration was significantly better than the Volume integration, and the dominant surface and edge flaws could be caused by buffered HF attacking the SiNx layer during SiO2 removal. Crown Copyright (C) 2008 Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Structural and magnetic properties of insulating Zn1-xCoxO thin films

Cobalt-doped ZnO (Zn1-xCoxO) thin films were fabricated by reactive magnetron cosputtering. The processing conditions were carefully designed to avoid the occurrence of Co precipitations. The films are c-axis oriented, and the solubility limit of Co in ZnO is less than 17%, determined by x-ray diffraction. X-ray photoemission spectroscopy measurements show Co ions have a chemical valance of 2+. In this paper, hysteresis loops were clearly observed for Zn1-xCoxO films at room temperature. The coercive field, as well as saturation magnetization per Co atom, decreases with increasing Co content, within the range of 0.07films are nonconductive as x is no more than 17%. Our results clearly demonstrate that ferromagnetism can be realized in Zn1-xCoxO without carrier incorporation. (C) 2004 American Institute of Physics.

Effect of the oxygen concentration on the properties of Gd2O3 thin films

Gd2O3 thin films were deposited on Si (100) substrates at 650degreesC by a magnetron sputtering system under different Ar/O-2 ratios of 6:1, 4:1 and 2:1. The effect of the oxygen concentration on the properties of oxide thin films was investigated by X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, atomic force microscopy and capacitance-voltage (C-V)measurement. X-ray diffraction shows that the structure of oxide films changed from the monoclinic Gd2O3 phase to cubic Gd2O3 phase when the oxygen concentration increased. According to C-V measurement, the dielectric constant value of the samples deposited at different Ar/O-2 ratios is about 12. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Parameters determining crystallinity in beta-SiC thin films prepared by catalytic chemical vapor deposition

The effects of deposition gas pressure and H-2 dilution ratio (H-2/SiH4+CH4+H-2), generally considered two of dominant parameters determining crystallinity in beta-SiC thin films prepared by catalytic chemical vapor deposition (Cat-CVD), often called hot-wire CVD method, on the films properties have been systematically studied. As deposition gas pressure increase from 40 to 1000 Pa, the crystallinity of the films is improved. From the study of H-2 dilution ratio, it is considered that H-2 plays a role as etching gas and modulating the phases in beta-SiC thin films. On the basis of the study on the parameters, nanocrystalline beta-SiC films were successfully synthesized on Si substrate at a low temperature of 300degreesC. The Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) spectra show formation of beta-SiC. Moreover, according to Sherrer equation, the average grain size of the films estimated is in nanometer-size. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Effects of crystalline quality on the phase stability of cubic boron nitride thin films under medium-energy ion irradiation

To investigate the effect of radiation damage on the stability and the compressive stress of cubic boron nitride (c-BN) thin films, c-BN films with various crystalline qualities prepared by dual beam ion assisted deposition were irradiated at room temperature with 300 keV Ar+ ions over a large fluence range up to 2 x 10(16) cm(-2). Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) data were taken before and after each irradiation step. The results show that the c-BN films with high crystallinity are significantly more resistant against medium-energy bombardment than those of lower crystalline quality. However, even for pure c-BN films without any sp(2)-bonded BN, there is a mechanism present, which causes the transformation from pure c-BN to h-BN or to an amorphous BN phase. Additional high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) results support the conclusion from the FTIR data. For c-BN films with thickness smaller than the projected range of the bombarding Ar ions, complete stress relaxation was found for ion fluences approaching 4 x 10(15) cm(-2). This relaxation is accompanied, however, by a significant increase of the width of c-BN FTIR TO-line. This observation points to a build-up of disorder and/or a decreasing average grain size due to the bombardment. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Characterization of stress induced in SOS and Si/gamma-Al2O3/Si heteroepitaxial thin films by Raman spectroscopy

Raman spectroscopy technique has been performed to investigate the stress induced in as-grown silicon-on-sapphire (SOS), solid-phase-epitaxy (SPE) re-grown SOS, and Si/gamma-Al2O3/Si double-heteroepitaxial thin films. It was demonstrated that the residual stress in SOS film, arising from mismatch and difference of thermal expansion coefficient between silicon and sapphire, was reduced efficiently by SPE process, and that the stress in Si/gamma-Al2O3/Si thin film is much smaller than that of as-grown SOS and SPE upgraded SOS films. The stress decrease for double heteroepitaxial film Si/gamma-Al2O3/Si mainly arises from the smaller lattice mismatching of 2.4% between silicon top layer and the gamma-Al2O3/Si epitaxiial composite substrate, comparing with the large lattice mismatch of 13% for SOS films. It indicated that gamma-Al2O3/Si as a silicon-based epitaxial substrate benefits for reducing the residual stress for further growth of silicon layer, compared with on bulk sapphire substrate. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Characterization of silicon carbide thin films and their use in colour sensor

A series of hydrogenated amorphous silicon carbide (a-Si1-xCx:H) films were prepared by plasma-enhanced chemical vapour deposition (PECVD) using a gas mixture of silane, methane, and hydrogen as the reactive source. The previous results show that a high excitation frequency, together with a high hydrogen dilution ratio of the reactive gases, allow an easier incorporation of the carbon atoms into the silicon-rich a-Si1-xCx:H film, widen the valence controllability. The data show that films with optical gaps ranging from about 1.9 to 3.6 eV could be produced. In this work the influence of the hydrogen dilution ratio of the reactive gases on the a-Si1-xCx:H film properties was investigated. The microstuctural and photoelectronic properties of the silicon carbide films were characterized by Rutherford backscattering spectrometry (RBS), elastic recoil detection analysis (ERDA), and FT-IR spectrometry. The results show that a higher hydrogen dilution ratio enhances the incorporation of silicon atoms in the amorphous carbon matrix for carbon-rich a-Si1-xCx:H films. One pin structure was prepared by using the a-Si1-xCx:H film as the intrinsic layer. The light spectral response shows that this structure fits the requirement for the top junction of colour sensor. (c) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The microstructure of hydrogenated microcrystalline silicon thin films studied by small-angle x-ray scattering

The microstructures of hydrogenated microcrystalline silicon (tic-Si: H) thin films, prepared by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD), hot wire CVD(HWCVD) and plasma assisted HWCVD (PE-HWCVD), have been analyzed by the small angle x-ray scattering(SAXS) measurement. The SAXS data show that the microstructures of the μ c-Si: H films display different characteristics for different deposition techniques. For films deposited by PECVD, the volume fraction of micro-voids and mean size are smaller than those in HWCVD sample. Aided by suitable ion-bombardment, PE-HWCVD samples show a more compact structure than the HWCVD sample. The microstructure parameters of the μ c-Si: H thin films deposited by two-steps HWCVD and PE-HWCVD with Ar ions are evidently improved. The result of 45° tilting SAXS measurement indicates that the distribution of micro-voids in the film is anisotropic. The Fouriertransform infrared spectra confirm the SAXS data.

Silica and alumina thin films grown by liquid phase deposition

This work demonstrates the condition optimization during liquid phase deposition (LPD) Of SiO2/GaAs films. LPD method is further applied to form Al2O3 films on semiconductors with poison-free materials. Proceeding at room temperature with inexpensive equipment, LPD of silica and alumina films is potentially serviceable in microelectronics and related spheres.

Study on growth mechanism of low-temperature prepared microcrystalline Si thin films

Microcrystalline silicon thin films at different growth stages were prepared by hot wire chemical vapor deposition. Atomic force microscopy has been applied to investigate the evolution of surface topography of these films. According to the fractal analysis I it was found that, the growth of Si film deposited on glass substrate is the zero-diffused stochastic deposition; while for the film on Si substrate, it is the finite diffused deposition on the initial growth stage, and transforms to the zero-diffused stochastic deposition when the film thickness reaches a certain value. The film thickness dependence of island density shows that a maximum of island density appears at the critical film thickness for both substrates. The data of Raman spectra approve that, on the glass substrate, the a-Si: H/mu c-Si:H transition is related to the critical film thickness. Different substrate materials directly affect the surface diffusion ability of radicals, resulting in the difference of growth modes on the earlier growth stage.

Effect of the variation of temperature on the structural and optical properties of ZnO thin films prepared on Si (111) substrates using PLD

ZnO thin films were prepared on Si (1 11) substrates at various temperatures from 250 to 700 degrees C using pulsed laser deposition (PLD) technique in order to investigate the structural and optical properties of the films. The structural and morphological properties of the films were investigated by XRD and SEM measurements, respectively. The quality of the films was improved with the increase of the temperature. By XRD patterns the FWHMs of the (0 0 2) peaks of the ZnO films became narrower when the temperatures were above 500 degrees C. The FWHMs of the peaks of (0 0 2) of the films were as narrow as about 0. 19 degrees when films were grown at 650 and 700 degrees C. This indicates the superior crystallinity of the films. The optical properties of the films were studied by photoluminescence spectra using a 325 nm He-Cd laser. The two strongest UV peaks were found at 377.9 nm from ZnO films grown at 650 and 700 degrees C. This result is consistent with that of the XRD investigation. Broad bands in visible region from 450 to 550 nm were also observed. Our works suggest that UV emissions have close relations with not only the crystallinity but also the stoichiometry of the ZnO films. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Effect of incorporating nonlanthanoidal indium on optical properties of ferroelectric Bi4Ti3O12 thin films

Bi4Ti3O12 (BTO) and Bi3.25In0.75Ti3O12 (BTO:In) thin films were prepared on fused quartz and LaNiO3/Si (LNO) substrates by chemical solution deposition (CSD). Their microstructures, ferroelectric and optical properties were investigated by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscope, ferroelectric tester and UV-visible-NIR spectrophotometer, respectively. The optical band-gaps of the films were found to be 3.64 and 3.45 eV for the BTO and BTO:In films, respectively. Optical constants (refractive indexes and extinction coefficients) were determined from the optical transmittance spectra using the envelope method. Following the single electronic oscillator model, the single oscillator energy E-0, the dispersion energy E-d, the average interband oscillator wavelength lambda(0), the average oscillator strength S-0, the refractive index dispersion parameter (E-0/S-0), the chemical bonding quantity beta, and the long wavelength refractive index n(infinity) were obtained and analyzed. Both the refractive index and extinction coefficient of the BTO:In films are smaller than those of the BTO films. Furthermore, the refractive index dispersion parameter (E-0/S-0) increases and the chemical bonding quantity beta decreases in the BTO and BTO:In films compared with those of bulk. (C) 2007 Published by Elsevier B.V.

The correlation between preferred orientation and performance of ITO thin films

The tin-doped indium oxide (ITO) thin films were prepared by reactive thermal evaporation on the glass substrates. The effects of substrate temperatures (T-s) on the grain preferred orientation, the electrical and optical properties of ITO films were studied. X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns indicated that the preferred orientation of film changes from (222) to (400) as T, > 200 degrees C. It can be explained by that the low-index crystallographic planes are easier to be formed when the adatoms have high surface mobility. The Hall measurements indicated that both the concentration and mobility of carrier increase with increasing T,,,. The grain orientation of film does not influence the transmissivity and the carrier concentration, but enhances the carrier mobility. The transmissivity of ITO films is over 90% in the visible wavelength region (except that of the film deposited at 125 degrees C). A minimum resistivity of 5 X 10-4 Omega cm is achieved for the (400) preferred orientation film. Thus, the highest figure of merit of 3.5 x 10(-2) square/Omega is obtained for the film with (400) preferred orientation. The correlation between the preferred orientation and electrical and optical properties are discussed.

Structural and optical properties of ZnO thin films on glass substrate grown by laser-ablating Zn target in oxygen atmosphere

C-axis-orientated ZnO thin films were prepared on glass substrates by pulsed-laser deposition (PLD) technique in an oxygen-reactive atmosphere, using a metallic Zn target. The effects of growth condition such as laser energy and substrate temperature on the structural and optical properties of ZnO films had been investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission spectra and room-temperature (RT) photoluminescence (PL) measurements. The results showed that the thickness, crystallite size, and compactness of ZnO films increased with the laser energy and substrate temperature. Both the absorption edges and the UV emission peaks of the films exhibited redshift, and UV emission intensity gradually increased as the laser energy and substrate temperature increased. From these results, it was concluded that crystalline quality of ZnO films was improved with increasing laser energy and substrate temperature. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.N. All rights reserved.

Deposition of p-type nc-SiC : H thin films with subtle carbon incorporation for applications in p-i-n solar cells

This paper presents a detailed study on the effects of carbon incorporation and substrate temperature on structural, optical, and electrical properties of p-type nanocrystalline amorphous silicon films. A p-nc-SiC: H thin film with optical gap of 1.92 eV and activation energy of 0.06 eV is obtained through optimizing the plasma parameters. By using this p-type window layer, single junction diphasic nc-SiC : H/a-Si : H solar cells have been successfully prepared with a V-oc of 0.94 eV.