Comparative study of annealing and gold dopant effect on DC sputtered vanadium oxide films for bolometer applications

Vanadium oxide (VOx) thin film has been widely used for IR detectors and it is one of the promising materials for THz detectors due to its high temperature coefficient of resistance (TCR) values. VOx films with proper TCR values have also high resistance and it restricts bolometer performance especially for uncooled bolometers. To overcome this problem, deposition at elevated temperatures or annealing approach has been accepted and used but gold co-deposition approach has been proposed recently. In this study, vanadium oxide films were fabricated on high resistivity silicon substrates by reactive direct current magnetron sputtering in different O2/Ar atmosphere at room temperature. We investigated influence of oxygen partial pressure during deposition process and fabricated VOx thin films with sufficient TCR values for bolometer applications. In order to decrease resistivity of the deposited films, post annealing and gold doping approaches were performed separately. Effect of both post annealing process and gold doping process on structural and electrical properties of VOx thin films deposited at room temperature were investigated and detailed comparison between these methods were presented. We obtained the best possible approach to obtain optimum conditions for the highly reproducible VOx thin films which have the best resistivity and suitable TCR value for bolometer applications.TUBITAK (Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey); 115F54

Nd: yag laser oksitleme yöntemi kullanılarak ince sio2 ve ta2o5 dielektrik tabakaların büyütülmesi ve karakterize edilmesi

Our aim was to establish a methodology for laser assisted oxidation of semiconductor and metal surfaces. One advantage of laser oxidation is the fact that radiation is heavily absorbed in a thin surface layer of the sample and the other is its ability for local oxidation. In addition to this, laser beam can be directed into some areas that other processes cannot reach. For these reasons, Nd:YAG pulsed laser working at 1064 nm wavelength is used for the oxidation purposes of Si and Ta films. First, SiO2 layer was obtained for various O2 pressures and laser powers. The thickness, refractive index, structural, dielectric, electrical and optical characteristics of the SiO2 layers have been determined. We have established that there exists an interval of laser power in which the oxidation occurs without surface melting. The oxidation process is controlled by the laser power rather than by the substrate temperature (673 ا 748 K). It was found that better film quality is obtained at higher substrate temperatures and laser power greater than 3.36 J/cm2. Second, rf-sputtered Ta films were oxidized by laser, because Ta2O5 appears to be a good promising candidate to replace SiO2 because of its high dielectric constant, high breakdown voltage and relevant small leakage current values. It was found that the substrate temperature is an important parameter to obtain denser layers with reduced amount of suboxides and the most suitable substrate temperature range is around 350 C to 400 C. β-orthorhombic crystal structure was obtained when the substrate temperature is 350 ا 400 C for thinner films (up to 20 ا 25 nm) and 300 ا 350 C for thicker films (40 nm). The refractive index values of laser grown thin tantalum oxide films were between ~1.9 and 2.2 being close to those of bulk Ta2O5 (2.0 ا 2.2). Oxide thicknesses in uniform Gaussianاlike shapes were measured as around the twice ofPh.D. - Doctoral Progra

Electrical and dielectrical properties of tantalum oxide films grown by Nd:YAG laser assisted oxidation

Tantalum pentoxide (Ta2O5) thin films (20 to 44 nm) have been grown by 1064 nm Nd:YAG laser oxidation of Ta deposited films with various thickness on Si. Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectrum, thickness distribution, dielectric and electrical properties of laser grown oxide layers have been studied. The effect of the sputtered Ta film thickness, laser beam energy density and the substrate temperature on the final Ta2O5 film structure has been determined. It is shown that the oxide layers obtained for the laser beam energy density in the range from 3.26 to 3.31 J/cm2 and the substrate temperature around 350 °C have superior properties. FTIR measurement demonstrates that the Ta2O5 layers are obtained with the laser assisted oxidation technique. Metal Oxide Semiconductor capacitors fabricated on the grown oxide layers exhibits typical Capacitance-Voltage, Conductance-Voltage and Current-Voltage characteristics. However, the density of oxide charges is found to be slightly higher than the typical values of thermally grown oxides. The conduction mechanism studied by Current-Voltage measurements of the capacitors indicated that the current flow through the oxide layer is modified Poole-Frenkel type. It is concluded that the Ta2O5 films formed by the technique of Nd:YAG laser-enhanced oxidation at relatively low substrate temperatures are potentially useful for device applications and their properties can be further improved by post oxidation annealing processes. © 2008 Elsevier B.VTÜBİTAK project number TBAG/U6

Interfacial and structural properties of sputtered HfO2 layers

Magnetron sputtered HfO2 layers formed on a heated Si substrate were studied by spectroscopic ellipsometer (SE), x-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) depth profiling techniques. The results show that the formation of a SiO x suboxide layer at the HfO2 /Si interface is unavoidable. The HfO2 thickness and suboxide formation are highly affected by the growth parameters such as sputtering power, O2 /Ar gas ratio during sputtering, sputtering time, and substrate temperature. XRD spectra show that the deposited film has (111) monoclinic phase of HfO2, which is also supported by FTIR spectra. The atomic concentration and chemical environment of Si, Hf, and O have been measured as a function of depth starting from the surface of the sample by XPS technique. It shows that HfO2 layers of a few nanometers are formed at the top surface. Below this thin layer, Si-Si bonds are detected just before the Si suboxide layer, and then the Si substrate is reached during the depth profiling by XPS. It is clearly understood that the highly reactive sputtered Hf atoms consume some of the oxygen atoms from the underlying SiO2 to form HfO2, leaving Si-Si bonds behind

Impact of incorporated oxygen quantity on optical, structural and dielectric properties of reactive magnetron sputter grown high-κ HfO2/Hf/Si thin film

High-κ hafnium-oxide thin films have been fabricated by radio frequency (rf) reactive magnetron sputtering technique. To avoid formation of an undesired interfacial suboxide layer between Si and high-κ film, prior to HfO2 deposition, a thin Hf buffer layer was deposited on p-type (1 0 0) Si substrate at room temperature. Effect of oxygen gas quantity in the O2/Ar gas mixture was studied for the optical and structural properties of grown HfO2 high-κ thin films. The grown thin oxide films were characterized optically using spectroscopic ellipsometer (SE) in detail. Crystal structure was studied by grazing incidence X-ray diffractometer (GIXRD) technique, while bonding structure was obtained by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) analyses. In agreement with GIXRD and FTIR analyses, SE results show that any increment above ideal quantity of oxygen content in the gas mixture resulted in decrements in the refractive index and thickness of HfO2 dielectric film, while increments in SiO2 thickness. It is apparent from experimental results that oxygen to argon gas ratio needs to be smaller than 0.2 for a good film quality. The superior structural and optical properties for grown oxide film were obtained for O2/Ar gas ratio of about 0.05-0.1 combined with ∼30 W constant rf sputtering power. © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.TUBITAK project number of 107T117; Izmir Institute of Technologywith BAP project number of 2008IYTE3

In-situ spectroscopic ellipsometry and structural study of HfO2 thin films deposited by radio frequency magnetron sputtering

We have investigated the reduction of unwanted interfacial SiO2 layer at HfO2/Si interface brought about by the deposition of thin Hf metal buffer layer on Si substrate prior to the deposition of HfO2 thin films for possible direct contact between HfO2 thin film and Si substrate, necessary for the future generation devices based on high-κ HfO2 gate dielectrics. Reactive rf magnetron sputtering system along with the attached in-situ spectroscopic ellipsometry (SE) was used to predeposit Hf metal buffer layer as well as to grow HfO2 thin films and also to undertake the in-situ characterization of the high-κ HfO2 thin films deposited on n-type 〈100〉 crystalline silicon substrate. The formation of the unwanted interfacial SiO2 layer and its reduction due to the predeposited Hf metal buffer layer as well as the depth profiling and also structure of HfO2 thin films were investigated by in-situ SE, Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy, and Grazing Incidence X-ray Diffraction. The study demonstrates that the predeposited Hf metal buffer layer has played a crucial role in eliminating the formation of unwanted interfacial layer and that the deposited high-κ HfO2 thin films are crystalline although they were deposited at room temperature.The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (107T117--113F349); Izmir Institute of Technology (2008 IYTE 37

Local oxidation nanolithography on Hf thin films using atomic force microscopy (AFM)

Well controlled Hf oxide patterns have been grown on a flat Hf thin film surface produced by the dc magnetron sputtering method on Si and SiOx substrates. These patterns have been created by using the technique of semi-contact scanning probe lithography (SC-SPL). The thickness and width of the oxide patterns have been measured as a function of applied voltage, duration and relative humidity. There is a threshold voltage even at 87% humidity, due to insufficient energy required to start the oxide growth process for a measurable oxide protrusion. Electrical characterization was also performed via the I-V curves of Hf and HfOx structures, and the resistivity of HfO x was found to be 4.284 × 109 Ω cm. In addition to the I-V curves, electric force microscopy and spreading surface resistance images of Hf and HfOx were obtained.TÜBİTAK project number 107T117; DPT2003K120390 and Izmir Institute of Technology project number of 2004IYTE22 and 2006IYTE2

Effects of physical growth conditions on the structural and optical properties of sputtered grown thin HfO2 films

EMRS Conference on Frontiers of Multifunctional Oxides, Strasbourg, France, 31 May-04 June 2010HfO2 thin films were prepared by reactive DC magnetron sputtering technique on (100) p-Si substrate. The effects of O2/Ar ratio, substrate temperature, sputtering power on the structural properties of HfO2 grown films were studied by Spectroscopic Ellipsometer (SE), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectrum, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) depth profiling techniques. The results show that the formation of a SiOx suboxide layer at the HfO2/Si interface is unavoidable. The HfO2 thickness and suboxide formation are highly affected by the growth parameters such as sputtering power, O 2/Ar gas ratio during sputtering, and substrate temperature. XRD spectra show that the deposited films have (111) monoclinic phase of HfO 2, which is also supported by FTIR spectra. XPS depth profiling spectra shows that highly reactive sputtered Hf atoms consume some of the oxygen atoms from the underlying SiO2 to form HfO2, leaving Si-Si bonds behind. © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK) with project number of 107T117 and partially by Izmir Institute of Technology with research project number of 2008 IYTE 3

High quality ITO thin films grown by dc and RF sputtering without oxygen

High quality indium tin oxide (ITO) thin films were grown without oxygen by both dc and RF magnetron sputtering techniques on glass substrates. The effects of substrate temperature, film thickness and sputtering method on the structural, electrical and optical properties of the as-grown films were investigated. The results showed that the substrate temperature had substantial effects on the film properties, in particular on the crystallization and resistivity. When the substrate temperature was increased to 150 °C, crystallization in the (2 2 2) plane started appearing for both dc and RF sputtered films. We additionally found that with further increments of substrate temperature, the preferred crystallization orientation changed differently for dc and RF sputtered films. Optical transmission in the visible region for a film thickness of 70 nm was found to be above 85%. The bandgap was calculated to be about 3.64 eV for the substrate temperature of 150 °C for a 70 nm thick film. The value of the bandgap increased with respect to the increment in film thickness as well as substrate temperature. We also measured the temperature dependence of the resistivity and Hall coefficient of the films, and calculated the carrier concentration and Hall mobility. Very low room temperature resistivities for dc and RF magnetron sputtered grown films of about 1.28 × 10-4 Ω cm and 1.29 × 10-4 Ω cm, respectively, were obtained. © 2010 IOP Publishing Ltd.Ministry of Industry of Turkey, SANTEZ project number 00058.STZ.2007-1; TÜBİTAK project number 107T11