Deposition of c-axis orientation aluminum nitride films on flexible polymer substrates by reactive direct-current magnetron sputtering
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
5-31-2012
Publisher
Elsevier B. V.
Abstract
Aluminum nitride (AlN) piezoelectric thin films with c-axis crystal orientation on polymer substrates can potentially be used for development of flexible electronics and lab-on-chip systems. In this study, we investigated the effects of deposition parameters on the crystal structure of AlN thin films on polymer substrates deposited by reactive direct-current magnetron sputtering. The results show that low sputtering pressure as well as optimized N2/Ar flow ratio and sputtering power is beneficial for AlN (002) orientation and can produce a highly (002) oriented columnar structure on polymer substrates. High sputtering power and low N2/Ar flow ratio increase the deposition rate. In addition, the thickness of Al underlayer also has a strong influence on the film crystallography. The optimal deposition parameters in our experiments are: deposition pressure 0.38 Pa, N2/Ar flow ratio 2:3, sputtering power 414 W, and thickness of Al underlayer less than 100 nm.
Recommended Citation
H. Jin, J. Zhou, S.R. Dong, B. Feng, J.K. Luo, D.M. Wang, W.I. Milne, and C.Y. Yang, “Deposition of c-axis orientation aluminum nitride films on flexible polymer substrates by reactive direct-current magnetron sputtering,” Thin Solid Films 520, 4863-4870 (2012).
