Enhancement of the Chemical Stability of Hydrogenated Aluminum Nitride Thin Films by Nitrogen Plasma Treatment

Hydrogenated aluminium nitride (AlN:H) thin films were deposited on silicon (100) wafers by rf reactive magnetron sputtering. Although the as-deposited AlN:H films exhibited a smooth surface and low oxygen concentration, they are chemically unstable. The presence of N-H bonds is known to cause chemi...

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Published inElectrochemical and solid-state letters Vol. 4; no. 2; pp. F7 - F9
Main Authors Cho, Min-Hee, Kang, Youn-Seon, Kim, Hae-Yeol, Lee, Paul S., Lee, Jai-Young
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published 01.02.2001
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Summary:Hydrogenated aluminium nitride (AlN:H) thin films were deposited on silicon (100) wafers by rf reactive magnetron sputtering. Although the as-deposited AlN:H films exhibited a smooth surface and low oxygen concentration, they are chemically unstable. The presence of N-H bonds is known to cause chemical instability and an increase of the etching rate in KOH solution. The AlN:H films, which are treated with nitrogen plasma generated by a microwave system, show a much lower etching rate than that of as-deposited AlN:H or even as-deposited AlN films. After nitrogen plasma treatment, the Al-N bonding density in AlN:H films has increased sharply, while N-H bonding density has decreased. It means that the hydrogen atoms in the films diffuse out during the process, so that more chemically-stable AlN:H films are formed. 21 refs.
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ISSN:1099-0062
DOI:10.1149/1.1339241