Effect of reactive gas mass flow on the composition and structure of AIN films deposited by reactive sputtering

Abstract

The mass flow of the reactive gas during sputtering of AIN has been studied in order to control film stoichiometry as well as film structure and morphology. It has been observed that the film composition and sputtering rate depend strongly on the deposition conditions and, in particular, on the mass flow and the sputtering pressure. It has been possible to deposit transparent, almost stoichiometric as well as non-transparent, metal-rich AIN films. The metal-rich films had a sputtering rate which was a factor of six higher than that for the stoichiometric films. The crystalline texture and the morphology have been studied as a function of the total sputtering pressure for both film types. For the transparent films, this novel deposition procedure may be applied in surface acoustic wave devices. The non-transparent AIN films exhibit some similarities to films obtained by ion vapour deposition or ion-beam-enhanced deposition methods, and the films exhibit interesting tribological properties.