Densification of Thin Aluminum Oxide Films by Thermal Treatments - Materials Sciences and Applications

MSA > Vol.5 No.8, June 2014

Densification of Thin Aluminum Oxide Films by Thermal Treatments ()

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Download as PDF (Size: 2747KB) PP. 628-638

DOI: 10.4236/msa.2014.58065 7,028 Downloads 10,587 Views Citations

Author(s)

V. Cimalla, M. Baeumler, L. Kirste, M. Prescher, B. Christian, T. Passow, F. Benkhelifa, F. Bernhardt, G. Eichapfel, M. Himmerlich, S. Krischok, J. Pezoldt

Affiliation(s)

Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Solid State Physics, Freiburg, Germany.
Institute of Micro- and Nanoelectronics, Ilmenau University of Technology, Ilmenau, Germany.
Institute of Physics, Ilmenau University of Technology, Ilmenau, Germany.

ABSTRACT

Thin AlO_x films were grown on 4H-SiC by plasma-assisted atomic layer deposition (ALD) and plasma assisted electron-beam evaporation at 300°C. After deposition, the films were annealed in nitrogen at temperatures between 500°C and 1050°C. The films were analyzed by X-ray reflectivity (XRR) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) in order to determine film thickness, surface roughness and density of the AlO_x layer. No differences were found in the behavior of AlO_x films upon annealing for the two different employed deposition techniques. Annealing results in film densification, which is most prominent above the crystallization temperature (800°C). In addition to the increasing density, a mass loss of ~5% was determined and attributed to the presence of aluminum oxyhydroxide in as deposited films. All changes in film properties after high temperature annealing appear to be independent of the deposition technique.

KEYWORDS

Atomic Layer Deposition, Crystallization, Thermal Treatment, Aluminum Oxide

Share and Cite:

Cimalla, V. , Baeumler, M. , Kirste, L. , Prescher, M. , Christian, B. , Passow, T. , Benkhelifa, F. , Bernhardt, F. , Eichapfel, G. , Himmerlich, M. , Krischok, S. and Pezoldt, J. (2014) Densification of Thin Aluminum Oxide Films by Thermal Treatments. Materials Sciences and Applications, 5, 628-638. doi: 10.4236/msa.2014.58065.

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