Low temperature growth of A1n and Al2O3 films by the simultaneous use of a microwave ion source and an ionized cluster beam system

Abstract

Abstract We have prepared aluminium nitride (A1N) and oxide (Al2O3) films at a substrate temperature of 100°C by the simultaneous use of a microwave ion source and an ionized cluster beam system. For A1N, transparent and amorphous films with high packing density were obtained. Both A1N and Al2O3 films were chemically and thermally stable. Furthermore, the Al2O3 films could be made polycrystalline by increasing the incident energy of the oxygen ion beam and the acceleration voltage of ionized aluminium clusters. The electrical resistivity of the A1N and Al2O3 films was higher than 5 × 10 13 Ω cm and the breakdown voltage was larger than 3 × 106V cm−1. The chemical reaction between aluminium and reactive gas (i.e. nitrogen and oxygen) could be promoted by ionizing the reactive gas. Also, the ionization of aluminium clusters could improve the quality of the films as a result of combination with the reactive gas ions even at a low substrate temperature.