Effect of nitrogen concentration on the microstructures of AlN thin films fabricated by reactive RF sputtering

반응성 RF 마그네트론 스퍼터링으로 증착한 AlN 박막의 특성에 질소농도 변화가 미치는 영향

Aluminum nitride (AlN) thin films have been deposited on Si substrate by using reactive RF magnetron sputtering method in a gas mixture of Ar and $N_2$ at different $N_2$ concentration. It was found that $N_2$ concentration was varied in the range up to 20-100%, highly c-axis oriented film can be obtained at 50% $N_2$ with full width at half maximum (FWHM) $4.5^{\circ}$. Decrease in surface roughness from 7.5 nm to 4.6 nm found to be associated with decrease in grain size, with $N_2$ concentration; however, the AlN film fabricated at 20% $N_2$ exhibited a granular type of structure with non-uniform grains. The absorption peak was observed around 675 $cm^{-1}$ in fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). It is concluded that the AlN film deposited at $N_2$ concentration of 50% exhibited the most desirable properties for the application of high-frequency surface acoustic devices.