Structural and mechanical properties of a-axis AlN thin films growth using reactive RF magnetron sputtering plasma

Abstract

Purpose This paper aims to report the influence of sputtering plasma deposition time on the structural and mechanical properties of the a-axis oriented aluminium nitride (AlN) thin films. Design/methodology/approach The AlN films were prepared using RF magnetron sputtering plasma on a silicon substrate without any external heating with various deposition times. The films were characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), field-emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM), atomic force microscope (AFM) and nanoindentation techniques. Findings The XRD results show that the AlN thin films are highly oriented along the (100) AlN plane at various deposition times indicating the a-axis preferred orientation. All the AlN thin films exhibit hexagonal AlN with a wurtzite structure. The hardness and Young’s modulus of AlN thin films with various deposition times were measured using a nanoindenter. The measured hardness of the AlN films on Si was in the range of 14.1 to 14.7 GPa. The surface roughness and the grain size measured using the AFM revealed that both are dependent on the deposition times. Originality/value The novelty of this work lies with a comparison of hardness and Young’s modulus result obtained at different sputtering deposition temperature. This study also provides the relation of AlN thin films’ crystallinity with the hardness of the deposited films.