Innovative technique for tailoring intrinsic stress in reactively sputtered piezoelectric aluminum nitride films

Abstract

Novel technical and technological solutions enabling effective stress control in highly textured polycrystalline aluminum nitride (AlN) thin films deposited with ac (40kHz) reactive sputtering processes are discussed. Residual stress in the AlN films deposited by a dual cathode S-Gun magnetron is well controlled by varying Ar gas pressure, however, since deposition rate and film thickness uniformity depend on gas pressure too, an independent stress control technique has been developed. The technique is based on regulation of the flux of the charged particles from ac plasma discharge to the substrate. In the ac powered S-Gun, a special stress adjustment unit (SAU) is employed for reducing compressive stress in the film by means of redistribution of discharge current between electrodes of the S-Gun leading to controllable suppression of bombardment of the growing film. This technique is complementary to AlN deposition with rf substrate bias which increases ion bombardment and shifts stress in the compressive direction, if required. Using SAU and rf bias functions ensures tailoring intrinsic stress in piezoelectric AlN films for a particular application from high compressive −700MPa to high tensile +300MPa and allows the gas pressure to be adjusted independently to fine control the film uniformity. The AlN films deposited on Si substrates and Mo electrodes have strong (002) texture with full width at half maximum ranging from 2° for 200nm to 1° for 2000nm thick films.