Self-organization during growth of ZrN/SiN{sub x} multilayers by epitaxial lateral overgrowth

Journal Article · Sat Dec 14 00:00:00 EST 2013 · Journal of Applied Physics

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4838495· OSTI ID:22217781

Fallqvist, A.; Fager, H.; Hultman, L.; Persson, P. O. Å. ^[1]; Ghafoor, N. ^[2]

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1. Thin Film Physics Division, Department of Physics, Chemistry and Biology (IFM), Linköping University, SE-581 83 Linköping (Sweden)
2. Nanostructured Materials, Department of Physics, Chemistry and Biology (IFM), Linköping University, SE-581 83 Linköping (Sweden)

ZrN/SiN{sub x} nanoscale multilayers were deposited on ZrN seed layers grown on top of MgO(001) substrates by dc magnetron sputtering with a constant ZrN thickness of 40 Å and with an intended SiN{sub x} thickness of 2, 4, 6, 8, and 15 Å at a substrate temperature of 800 °C and 6 Å at 500 °C. The films were investigated by X-ray diffraction, high-resolution scanning transmission electron microscopy, and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. The investigations show that the SiN{sub x} is amorphous and that the ZrN layers are crystalline. Growth of epitaxial cubic SiN{sub x}—known to take place on TiN(001)—on ZrN(001) is excluded to the monolayer resolution of this study. During the course of SiN{sub x} deposition, the material segregates to form surface precipitates in discontinuous layers for SiN{sub x} thicknesses ≤6 Å that coalesce into continuous layers for 8 and 15 Å thickness at 800 °C, and for 6 Å at 500 °C. The SiN{sub x} precipitates are aligned vertically. The ZrN layers in turn grow by epitaxial lateral overgrowth on the discontinuous SiN{sub x} in samples deposited at 800 °C with up to 6 Å thick SiN{sub x} layers. Effectively a self-organized nanostructure can be grown consisting of strings of 1–3 nm large SiN{sub x} precipitates along apparent column boundaries in the epitaxial ZrN.

• OSTI ID: 22217781
• Journal Information: Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 114, Issue 22; Other Information: (c) 2013 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0021-8979
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
37 INORGANIC
ORGANIC
PHYSICAL AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY
DEPOSITION
EPITAXY
LAYERS
MAGNESIUM OXIDES
MAGNETRONS
NANOSTRUCTURES
PRECIPITATION
SPUTTERING
SUBSTRATES
SURFACES
THICKNESS
TITANIUM NITRIDES
TRANSMISSION ELECTRON MICROSCOPY
X RADIATION
X-RAY DIFFRACTION
X-RAY SPECTROSCOPY
ZIRCONIUM NITRIDES