Characterization of Silicon Nitride Thin Films on Glass

The influence of process parameters on amorphous reactively sputtered silicon nitride thin films is reported in this study. The films were prepared with various argon and nitrogen flows, and sputter power in in-line horizontal coater by DC magnetron reactive sputtering from Si (10% Al) target. Refractive index and mechanical properties like residual stress, hardness and elastic modulus were studied. We show that process pressure has an important influence on mechanical properties of the sputtered film. On the other hand, the nitrogen content is the key factor for the optical properties of the films.

Structure and Optical Properties of Al1−xScxN Thin Films

In this study, c-axis oriented AlN and Al1−xScxN films have been successfully grown on Si (100) and quartz glass by DC magnetron reactive sputtering method. The XRD patterns show that the crystal structure of the Al1−xScxN films is (002) orientation. The grain size and band gap energy (Eg) of the Al1−xScxN films decrease as the Sc concentration increases. The frequency of the E2 (high) mode observed in the Al1−xScxN films shows higher red shift compared to that observed in AlN film and the peak shifts to the low wave number with the increasing of Sc concentration.

Effect of Vacuum Annealing Temperature on Properties of Ga-Doped ZnO Films Deposited by DC Magnetron Reactive Sputtering

The Ga-doped ZnO thin films (GZO) were deposited at room temperature by DC magnetron reactive sputtering. The influence of vacuum annealing temperature on the morphology, internal stress, optical and electrical properties were investigated. The results showed that with the rise of annealing temperature, the grain size increased, the preferred orientation and crystallization degree became better, the internal stress reduced, the resistivity firstly decreased slightly before 350°C and then increased sharply. The minimum resistivity of 1.32×10-3Ω•cm was obtained at 350°C. The annealing temperature had a very big influence on the transmittance, and the average transmittance was about 80% in the visible range.

Influence of the Temperature on GZO Film Deposited by DC Magnetron Reactive Sputtering

GZO transparent conductive thin films were deposited by the direct current magnetron sputtering method from a ZnO target doped with Ga2O3 of 3wt% on glass slide substrates under high pressure of argon. The effect of substrate temperature on the GZO film’s morphology, optical and electrical properties is investigated by using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), UV spectrophotometer, four point probe and Spectroscopic Ellipsometer. The results showed that GZO thin films with high quality could be fabricated under the high pressure of argon.When substrate temperature is 250°C or below, surface morphology of thin films can be significantly improved.With the increase of substrate temperature, the crystal grain become larger, the crystal boundaries narrow and become clear, and reach a best case at 250°C. At the same time, the resistivity of GZO thin films decrease and reach the minimum which is 1.099×10-3 Ω•cm at 300°C while the average transmittance increase to 90%. Consequently, the properties of morphology began to get worse with the increase of temperature above 300°C.