Highly piezoelectric AlN thin films grown on amorphous, insulating substrates
- Laboratoire de Ceramique, Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL), 1015 Lausanne (Switzerland)
AlN thin films were grown by reactive sputtering on amorphous SiO{sub 2} thin films. Film texture, x-ray rocking curve width, mechanical stress, and the clamped piezoelectric constant d{sub 33,f} were studied as a function of rf bias power and substrate roughness. A high d{sub 33,f} of 5.0 pm/V was achieved at low substrate roughness and low mechanical AlN film stress. Increasing substrate roughness and stress leads to a deterioration of d{sub 33,f}, which is correlated with a higher density of opposite polarity grains detected by piezoresponse force microscopy. Extrapolating to 100% uniform polarity, a d{sub 33,f} of 6.1 pm/V is derived as highest possible value, probably corresponding to the d{sub 33,f}=e{sub 33}/c{sub 33}{sup E} of perfect single crystalline material. Growth mechanisms are proposed and underlined by high resolution transmission electron microscopy to explain the observed phenomena.
- OSTI ID:
- 22053686
- Journal Information:
- Journal of Vacuum Science and Technology. A, International Journal Devoted to Vacuum, Surfaces, and Films, Vol. 28, Issue 3; Other Information: (c) 2010 American Vacuum Society; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 1553-1813
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS
SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY
ALUMINIUM NITRIDES
CRYSTAL GROWTH
DEPOSITION
ELECTRICAL INSULATORS
MONOCRYSTALS
PIEZOELECTRICITY
RESOLUTION
ROUGHNESS
SILICON OXIDES
SPUTTERING
STRESSES
SUBSTRATES
THIN FILMS
TRANSMISSION ELECTRON MICROSCOPY
X-RAY DIFFRACTION