Scaling of surface roughness in sputter-deposited ZnO:Al thin films

Journal Article · Tue Sep 01 04:00:00 EDT 2009 · Journal of Applied Physics

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3212968· OSTI ID:21361818

Mohanty, Bhaskar Chandra; Choi, Hong-Rak; Cho, Yong Soo ^[1]

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1. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Yonsei University, Seoul 120-749 (Korea, Republic of)

We have studied surface roughness scaling of ZnO:Al thin films grown by rf magnetron sputtering of a compound target within framework of the dynamic scaling theory using atomic force microscopy. We have observed a crossover in scaling behavior of surface roughness at a deposition time of 25 min. Both the regimes are characterized by power-law dependence of local surface width w(r,t) on deposition time for small r, typical of anomalous scaling. The scaling exponents for the first regime indicate the existence of a new dynamics. For t>=25 min, the films follow super-rough scaling behavior with global exponents alpha=1.5+-0.2 and beta=1.03+-0.01, and local exponents alpha{sub local}=1 and beta{sub local}=0.67+-0.05. The anomaly in the scaling behavior of the films is discussed in terms of the shadowing instability and bombardment of energetic particles during growth of the films.

• OSTI ID: 21361818
• Journal Information: Journal of Applied Physics, Journal Name: Journal of Applied Physics Journal Issue: 5 Vol. 106; ISSN JAPIAU; ISSN 0021-8979
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
ALUMINIUM
ATOMIC FORCE MICROSCOPY
CHALCOGENIDES
CRYSTAL GROWTH
DEPOSITION
ELEMENTS
FILMS
MATERIALS
METALS
MICROSCOPY
OXIDES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
ROUGHNESS
SEMICONDUCTOR MATERIALS
SPUTTERING
SURFACE PROPERTIES
SURFACES
THIN FILMS
ZINC COMPOUNDS
ZINC OXIDES