Thin Film Processing Research Articles

Unveiling the Annealing-Dependent Mechanical Properties of Freestanding Indium Tin Oxide Thin Films.

A fundamental understanding of the mechanical behavior of the indium tin oxide (ITO) layer is very important because cracking and delamination of the ITO layers have been a critical obstacle for mechanically robust flexible electronics. In this study, the intrinsic mechanical properties of ITO thin films without a substrate were measured by utilizing a freestanding tensile testing method. Young's modulus (89 ± 1 GPa), elongation (0.34 ± 0.02%), and tensile strength (293 ± 13 MPa) of amorphous as-deposited ITO thin films were successfully measured. The sheet resistance, transparency, and thickness of the as-deposited films were 32.9 ± 0.5 Ω/sq, 92.7% (400-700 nm), and 152 ± 6 nm, respectively. First, we investigated the effects of annealing temperature on the mechanical properties of ITO thin films. For 100- and 150 °C-annealed ITO thin films, which were amorphous, Young's modulus, elongation, and tensile strength were enhanced by increasing the packing density and reducing the structural defects. For 200 °C-annealed ITO thin films, which were polycrystalline, Young's modulus was further increased because of their highly packed crystalline nature. However, there was a significant decrease in elongation and tensile strength because grain boundaries act as critical defects. Next, the annealing time was varied from 0.5 to 6 h for a better understanding of the effects of the annealing time. As a result, the maximum elongation (0.54 ± 0.03%) and tensile strength (589 ± 11 MPa) were obtained at 150 °C for 1 h. Annealing for 1 h was appropriate for sufficient defect reduction; however, excessive annealing for more than 1 h increased the degree of partial crystallization of the ITO thin films. The proposed annealing conditions and the corresponding mechanical properties provide guidelines for the optimum annealing process of ITO thin films and quantitative data for mechanical analysis to design mechanically robust flexible electronics.

Effect of the annealing treatment on the physical and structural properties of LiNbO3 thin films deposited by radio-frequency sputtering at room temperature

Reaching the full potential of the 5th Generation of mobile applications (5G) requires pushing the performances of acoustic radio-frequency (RF) filters beyond their current limits. Current high-performances RF filters (above 2.5 GHz) are based on aluminium nitride (AlN). Their bandwidth is however limited by the low electromechanical coupling coefficient of AlN. In this context, due to its higher electromechanical coupling coefficient, lithium niobate (LiNbO3) is a good candidate as an active piezoelectric material. For this application, LiNbO3 films need to be stoichiometric and to be either highly textured or monocrystalline. However, there seems to be no deposition process for high quality LiNbO3 thin films on silicon available at the moment, which could be mainly due to the difficulty to achieve a high crystalline quality and to the challenging control and of its stoichiometry. In the present work, the realization of highly textured films deposited directly on silicon substrate by RF sputtering at room temperature and after annealing was demonstrated. The effect of the annealing parameters (temperature and ramping rates) was studied. LiNbO3 layers with a strong degree of texture along the c-axis were obtained. The X-ray diffraction analysis showed that an optimum texture of 99% can be reached by a high temperature of annealing and a fast temperature ramping rate. The effect of annealing parameters on the presence of secondary phase LiNb3O8 and film density was also investigated.

Reduced extrinsic recombination process in anatase and rutile TiO2 epitaxial thin films for efficient electron transport layers

TiO2 is the most widely used material for the electron transport layers (ETLs) because it is characterized by proper band alignment with light absorbers, adequate optical transmittance, and high electron mobility. There are two thermodynamically stable crystal phases of TiO2: anatase and rutile. However, understanding which phase is more effective as the ETL is still required. In this paper, we demonstrate the different effects of using epitaxial anatase TiO2 and epitaxial rutile TiO2 (both grown using pulsed laser deposition) as the ETL material on the electrical and optical properties. Epitaxial Nb-doped TiO2 layers were used as the common electrode material for the both epitaxial ETLs for which the crystalline structural analysis revealed high crystalline qualities and good coherency for both phases. By analyzing the recombination kinetics, the anatase phase shows a preferable performance in comparison with the rutile phase, although both epitaxial phases show remarkably reduced extrinsic recombination properties, such as trap-assisted recombination. This study demonstrates not only a better electron transporting performance of anatase phase but also reduced extrinsic recombination through epitaxy growth.

Growth and piezoelectric properties of amorphous and crystalline (K1−xNax)NbO3−based thin films

(K1−xNax)NbO3 (KNN)-based piezoelectric thin films have been extensively studied for application in micro-electromechanical systems. However, growing homogenous crystalline (K1−xNax)NbO3 (CKNN) films with good piezoelectric properties is difficult because Na2O and K2O evaporate during the growth process at high temperatures. Recently, amorphous (K1−xNax)NbO3 (AKNN) films containing KNN nanocrystals with good piezoelectric properties have been fabricated at low temperatures. Furthermore, [001]-oriented crystalline (K1−xNax)NbO3 (OCKNN) films with excellent piezoelectric properties have been grown at low temperatures (≤ 350 °C) using a metal-oxide nanosheet seed layer. This novel method is excellent for the growth of homogeneous KNN thin films. These films were deposited on a polymer substrate; thus, they can be utilized in future flexible electronic devices. In this study, the structural and piezoelectric properties of AKNN- and CKNN-based films fabricated at high temperatures, along with the growth process and application of OCKNN-based thin films at low temperatures, are reviewed.

Atomistic origin of the athermal training effect in granular IrMn/CoFe bilayers

Anti-ferromagnetic materials have the possibility to offer ultra fast, high data density spintronic devices. A significant challenge is the reliable detection of the state of the antiferromagnet, which can be achieved using exchange bias. Here we develop an atomistic spin model of the athermal training effect, a well known phenomenon in exchange biased systems where the bias is significantly reduced after the first hysteresis cycle. We find that the setting process in granular thin films relies on the presence of interfacial mixing between the ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic layers. We systematically investigate the effect of the intermixing and find that the exchange bias, switching field and coercivity all increase with increased intermixing. The interfacial spin state is highly frustrated leading to a systematic decrease in interfacial ordering of the ferromagnet. This metastable spin structure of initially irreversible spins leads to a large effective exchange coupling and thus large increase in the switching field. After the first hysteresis cycle these metastable spins drop into a reversible ground state that is repeatable for all subsequent hysteresis cycles, demonstrating that the effect is truly athermal. Our simulations provide new insights into the role of interface mixing and the importance of metastable spin structures in exchange biased systems which could help with the design an optimisation of antiferromagnetic spintronic devices.

Raman microspectroscopic and quantum chemical investigations of neuroleptic drugs interactions with dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine (DPPC) lipid

Raman microspectroscopic and quantum chemical studies are performed to get insights into the interaction of neuroleptic drugs with Dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine (DPPC) lipid and specify their precise location in the lipid bilayer. Liposomes were formed by the thin-film hydration process, and perphenazine drug was added to DPPC at various molar percentages. The intensity ratio of the peak I2935/I2880 is indicative of the interaction of drugs with the alkyl chains and can provide the crucial information about the ratio between disorder and order that occurs in the conformation of the alkyl chain. The effect of chlorpromazine drug on liposomes is discussed. Our results suggest that penetration of drugs in the lipid bilayers results in a concentration dependent rise of the membrane flexibility. Quantum chemical calculations are also performed to plot electrostatic potential surface which provide insights at molecular level infarctions of perphenazine drug and DPPC. The strong interaction was found between both the lipophilic and the polar head groups of the phospholipids with drugs.

INVESTIGATE THE APPROPRIATE MODEL FOR DESCRIBING THE CRYSTALLIZATION PROCESS OF Te65Sb25Ga10 THIN FILM

The sheet resistance, Rs , measurements versus temperature, T, for 1000 nm Te - Sb -Ga thin films were performed at different heating rates (   5, 10, 20, 30 and 40 K/min) in the temperature range from 300 to 673 K. The kinetic transformation parameters of Te65Sb25Ga10 thin film were examined via the theoretical method developed (TMD) and the Johnson–Mehl–Avrami model (JMA). The crystallization activation energy Ec with the transformed fraction is not constant but change with the conversion fraction. These results refer to the rate constant of the transformation is in fact determined through the nucleation and diffusion processes. The results of the impingement exponent γi dependence of the conversion fraction (χ) revealed that the mode of impingement is due to “anisotropic growth”. In addition to that the average values of kinetic exponent parameters, n and m obtained by (TMD) and JMA models. are accounted for two and three-dimensional crystal growth with heterogeneous nucleation. Moreover, comparing the experimental curve of the transformed fraction indicated that the crystallization process of Te65Sb25Ga10 thin film cannot be satisfactorily described by Johnson-Mehl-Avrami (JMA) model. On contrary, the theoretical curves of the developed model are more realistic for describing the crystallization process of the investigated chalcogenide bulk glass.

Enhanced Electrical Properties of AZO/IZO Multilayered Thin Film with Post Laser Annealing Process.

In this research, alternative deposition process of ZnO-based thin films have been studied for transparent conducting oxide (TCO) application. To improve the electrical and optical properties of transparent oxide thin films, alternatively stacked Al-doped ZnO and In-doped ZnO thin films were investigated. Multilayer structure of alternative 6 layers of thin films were prepared in this research. Especially, Aluminum and Indium were chosen as dopant materials. Thin films of Al-doped ZnO (AZO) and In-doped ZnO (IZO) were alternatively deposited by spin coating with sol-gel method. After deposition of multilayered thin films, multi steps of furnace (F), rapid thermal annealing (R) and CO₂ laser annealing (L) processes were carried out and investigated thin film properties by dependence of post-annealing sequence and thin film structures. The electrical and optical properties of thin films were investigated by 4-point probe and UV-vis spectroscopy and its shows the greatest sheet resistance value of 0.59 kΩ/sq. from AZO/IZO multilayered structure and upper 85% of transmittance. The structural property and surface morphology were measured by X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM). The Al- and In-doped ZnO thin film shows the highest intensity value at (002) peak of AZO/IZO multilayer structure which was performed FRL process.

In silico design of a thermal atomic layer etch process of cobalt

Thermal atomic layer etch (ALE), facilitating the removal of up to one monolayer of material per cycle, is growing in importance for thin-film processing. The number of available ALE processes is much smaller than for atomic layer deposition, its complementary growth process. Quantum chemical simulations are a key approach in the development of new thermal ALE processes, however, methodologies and workflows need to be developed. In this regard, the present paper reports a simulation-based approach toward the development of new thermal ALE processes using metallic cobalt as a test case. We demonstrate a predictive process discovery approach for ALE in which target volatile etch products and the corresponding gas phase reactants are chosen from the literature, an overall ALE cycle for each combination of reactant is investigated for thermochemical favorability, and the detailed mechanisms of the individual reaction steps in the proposed ALE processes are studied using density functional theory. From these results, we derive a temperature-pressure process window for each combination of reactants at typical reactant and product pressures allowing the selection of an ALE process window. For Co ALE, we investigated propene, butyne, silane, and trimethyl silane as a first pulse reactant and CO as the second pulse reactant. We propose propene and CO as the best combination of reactants for Co ALE. Propene adsorbs with sufficient strength to the target Co atom at temperatures below the CO decomposition temperature of 440 K, which results in the lowest energy etch species. This approach is equally relevant for the ALE process design of elemental, binary, and ternary materials.

Ceramic packaging in neural implants

The lifetime of neural implants is strongly dependent on packaging due to the aqueous and biochemically aggressive nature of the body. Over the last decade, there has been a drive towards neuromodulatory implants which are wireless and approaching millimeter-scales with increasing electrode count. A so-far unrealized goal for these new types of devices is an in-vivo lifetime comparable to a sizable fraction of a healthy patient’s lifetime (>10–20 years). Existing, approved medical implants commonly encapsulate components in metal enclosures (e.g. titanium) with brazed ceramic inserts for electrode feedthrough. It is unclear how amenable the traditional approach is to the simultaneous goals of miniaturization, increased channel count, and wireless communication. Ceramic materials have also played a significant role in traditional medical implants due to their dielectric properties, corrosion resistance, biocompatibility, and high strength, but are not as commonly used for housing materials due to their brittleness and the difficulty they present in creating complex housing geometries. However, thin-film technology has opened new opportunities for ceramics processing. Thin films derived largely from the semiconductor industry can be deposited and patterned in new ways, have conductivities which can be altered during manufacturing to provide conductors as well as insulators, and can be used to fabricate flexible substrates. In this review, we give an overview of packaging for neural implants, with an emphasis on how ceramic materials have been utilized in medical device packaging, as well as how ceramic thin-film micromachining and processing may be further developed to create truly reliable, miniaturized, neural implants.

Experimental Study of Boiling Heat Transfer in a Thin Film on Horizontal Tube.(Dept.M)

Boiling heat transfer process in thin film on horizontal tubes is, experimentally. investigated . The effect of the operating parameters on the boiling heat transfer coefficient is studied and accordingly the optimum operating conditions is deduced. The operating parameters such as heat flux. mass flow rate, feed water height and test tube configuration are considered. To carry out this experimental work, a suitable test rig hag been constructed such that the effect of these operating parameters can be investigated. The test tube is heated by & heating steam flowing inside it in a stratified flow pattern. A perforated distributer sprays a thin water film on a test tube forming dripping flow, The considered ranges of the investigated parameters are heat flux from 20 to 300 kw/m2 , mass flow rate from 0.02 to 0,1 kg/m.s. height to diameter ratio from 0.1 to 1 , and tube diameter from 12.2 to 38 mm. The effect of test tube configuration in case of circular , horizontal elongated oval shape and vertical elongated oval shape is studied. It is found that the heat transfer coefficient in case of circular cross sectional tube is the best one specially , compared with horizontal elongated oval shape.

In Situ Vapor-Phase Halide Exchange of Patterned Perovskite Thin Films.

Metal halide perovskites (MHPs) exhibit optoelectronic properties that are dependent on their ionic composition, and the feasible exploitation of these properties for device applications requires the ability to control the ionic composition integrated with the patterning process. Herein, the halide exchange process of MHP thin films directly combined with the patterning process via a vapor transport method is demonstrated. Specifically, the patterned arrays of CH3 NH3 PbBr3 (MAPbBr3 ) are obtained by stepwise conversion from polymer-templated PbI2 thin films to CH3 NH3 PbI3 (MAPbI3 ), followed by halide exchange via precursor switching from CH3 NH3 I to CH3 NH3 Br. It is confirmed that the phase transformation from MAPbI3 patterns to MAPbBr3 shows time- and position-dependences on the substrate during halide exchange following the solid-solution model with Avrami kinetics. The photodetectors fabricated from the completely exchanged MAPbBr3 patterns display exceptional air stability and reversible detectivity from "apparent death" upon removing the adsorbed impurities, thereby suggesting the superior structural stability of perovskite patterns prepared through vapor-phase halide exchange. The results demonstrate the potential of chemical vapor deposition patterning of MHP materials in multicomponent optoelectronic device systems.

Inactivation of E. coli and L. innocua in milk by a thin film UV-C reactor modified with flow guiding elements (FGE)

In this study the suitability of a thin-film reactor (TFR) equipped with special flow guiding elements (FGE) was examined to analyse its capability to inactivate microorganisms in milk. Experiments were carried out with UHT-milk inoculated with Escherichia coli (E. coli), DH5α and Listeria innocua (L. innocua) WS 2258. Furthermore, the inactivation of microorganisms originally occurring in raw milk was investigated. E. coli, DH5α and L. innocua serving as biodosimeter were reduced by 4.58-log and 3.19-log, respectively. In milk, the original microorganisms showed a 4-log reduction. Without FGE the reduction was below 0.13-log. Thus, it can be derived that the efficacy of a UV-C thin-film reactor processing absorptive media like milk can be highly improved using FGE.

Nanocrystalline equiatomic CoCrFeNi alloy thin films: Are they single phase fcc?

The bulk quaternary equiatomic CoCrFeNi alloy is studied extensively in literature. Under experimental conditions, it shows a single-phase fcc structure and its physical and mechanical properties are similar to those of the quinary equiatomic CoCrFeMnNi alloy. Many studies in literature have focused on the mechanical properties of bulk nanocrystalline high entropy alloys or compositionally complex alloys, and their microstructure evolution upon annealing. The thin film processing route offers an excellent alternative to form nanocrystalline alloys. Due to the high nucleation rate and high density of defects in thin films synthesized by sputtering, the kinetics of microstructure evolution is often accelerated compared to those taking place in the bulk. Here, thin films are used to study the phase evolution in nanocrystalline CoCrFeNi deposited on Si/SiO2 and c-sapphire substrates by magnetron co-sputtering from elemental sources. The phases and microstructure of the films are discussed in comparison to the bulk alloy. The main conclusion is that second phases can form even at room temperature provided there are sufficient nucleation sites.

Carbon-based Multi-layered Films for Electronic Application: A Review

The current article reviews the construction of thin films comprising carbon-based nanomaterials for application in electrical and electronic fields. Carbon-based materials such as carbon nanotubes, graphene, and fullerene are known to possess excellent electrical and electronic properties, which makes them desirable materials for the fabrication of micro- and nano-electromechanical devices. The fabrication process of thin films, including the deposition of several layers, removal of layers, solution processing methods, inkjet printing, micro-emulsion polymerization methods, deposition through filtration processes, spin coating, dip coating, pen lithography, vacuum-assisted flocculation, vacuum-assisted layer-by-layer assembly laser writing, etc., has been extensively reviewed. It is evident from the past findings that the fabricated thin films constituting carbon nanomaterials shows predominant alteration in electrical and electronic properties like sheet resistance, ionic transport, potential difference, conductivity, electro-rheological, transparency, trans-conductance, transmittance, bending stability, etc. In view of the referred properties, the developed materials find wide applications in charge-trap flash memories, flexible organic resistive memory devices, photovoltaic devices, flexible and transparent electronics, heat sinks in electronic materials, liquid crystal displays (LCDs), thin-film solar cells, flexible touch-screen panels, electronic papers, micro-batteries, electrochemical micro-capacitors, humidity sensors, optoelectronic devices, etc. We expect that the current review article will be a valuable asset for the researchers working in the field of carbon nanomaterials.

Efficient Wide-Bandgap Mixed-Cation and Mixed-Halide Perovskite Solar Cells by Vacuum Deposition.

Vacuum deposition methods are increasingly applied to the preparation of perovskite films and devices, in view of the possibility to prepare multilayer structures at low temperature. Vacuum-deposited, wide-bandgap solar cells based on mixed-cation and mixed-anion perovskites have been scarcely reported, due to the challenges associated with the multiple-source processing of perovskite thin films. In this work, we describe a four-source vacuum deposition process to prepare wide-bandgap perovskites of the type FA1–nCsnPb(I1–xBrx)3 with a tunable bandgap and controlled morphology, using FAI, CsI, PbI2, and PbBr2 as the precursors. The simultaneous sublimation of PbI2 and PbBr2 allows the relative Br/Cs content to be decoupled and controlled, resulting in homogeneous perovskite films with a bandgap in the 1.7–1.8 eV range and no detectable halide segregation. Solar cells based on 1.75 eV bandgap perovskites show efficiency up to 16.8% and promising stability, maintaining 90% of the initial efficiency after 2 weeks of operation.

Nanopillar composite electrodes for solar-driven water splitting

Spontaneous noble metal dopant segregation in an oxide lattice can lead to the formation of metallic clusters and extended acicular inclusions. In a thin-film process, the shape and orientation of such noble metal inclusions are governed by the crystal growth direction, giving rise to a composite material with lattice-matched metal nanopillars embedded vertically in an insulating or semiconducting oxide matrix. An interesting application of such composites is in photoelectrochemical cell electrodes, where the metallic nanopillars take on three distinct roles: forming a Schottky junction with the host matrix, providing a low-loss current path from bulk to surface, and creating an efficient electrocatalytic active site on the electrode surface. In particular, we discuss the application of vertically aligned metal–oxide nanopillar composites in photoelectrochemical water-splitting cells used for direct solar-powered hydrogen generation.

InnovationLab Special Section in Advanced Materials Technologies

Flexible and Printed Electronics (FPE) combine the cost-efficiency and high-throughput fabrication of printing technologies with functional materials whose mechanical, electrical or optoelectronic properties can be tailored by chemical approaches. Thus, it represents an ideal approach that will complement established silicon-based technologies to advance the manifold of envisioned applications for upcoming technologies in low-cost sensing, energy harvesting and storage, wearables and the Internet of Things. The research and commercial opportunities that FPE opens are currently motivating several research centers to establish dedicated programs and the consolidation of industrial and academic consortiums (e.g. Organic Electronics Association, NextFlex, etc.) while companies have started launching the first FPE technologies to the market. This continuous growth is being supported by all the different players in the field through a large effort in the research and development of functional materials, printing process technology and system integration. Still, challenges remain to be addressed in order to expand the areas of application that will benefit from the added value of FPE technologies. Solving them will require a multidisciplinary approach at the crossroads between chemistry, physics, material science and engineering. The development of new FPE technologies requires comprehensively addressing all aspects of the value chain, from the conception of the idea, the research and development, to the final transition to production. InnovationLab (iL) is an application-oriented platform located in Southwest Germany, designed to foster cross-disciplinary research and innovation at the interface of academia and industry for the commercialization of novel technologies. The main emphasis of iL is driving the developments in the field of Printed and Organic Electronics and related areas towards the production of real-world applications. iL operates with the support of its shareholders Heidelberg University, the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, BASF SE, Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG and SAP SE. Since its foundation in 2008, through the support of the German Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF), iL has provided state-of-the-art infrastructure along with extensive expertise in materials, processes, and printing technologies to carry out public and private funded research and development projects. Today, iL has become a collaboration hub establishing a strong industrial and academic network at a national and international level and has already driven its first products to the market. Recently, iL has partnered with Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG, the world market leader in the manufacturing of printing presses, to enable the industrial scale fabrication of inexpensive printed and organic sensors in a second production site. From an academic perspective, the key mission of iL is to promote multidisciplinary research, training the next generation of scientists and advance the fundamental understanding of functional materials and processes that yield high-performance electronic and optoelectronic devices. This goal is pursued through the excellent research performed by its academic shareholders as well as its partners from institutions such as the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research, the Technical University of Darmstadt, and the Technical University of Braunschweig. In this Special Section of Advanced Material Technologies, we highlight the contribution of the academic partners to the Lab-to-Fab mission of iL. The included manuscripts present application-oriented research on different aspects relevant to organic light-emitting diodes, organic field-effect transistor, photovoltaics and printing technology. We present the simulation of charge transport in organic semiconductors, the synthesis of novel materials for organic electronic devices and the study of device relevant interfaces by spectroscopy and analytical tools. Furthermore, we show our research on the formulation of functional inks and the role of the printing and drying processes of organic thin-films. Lastly, we show our advances in fully-inkjet printed device architectures, the utilization of sustainable material in printed electronics and the hybrid integration of solution-processable devices. These research examples demonstrate how the fundamental understanding of functional materials, fabrication processes, and devices are enabling technological advances towards future low-cost printed electronic applications. Gerardo Hernandez-Sosa received his Ph.D. from the Johannes Kepler University Linz, Austria in 2009. Currently, he is a permanent researcher at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology. His research group is based at InnovationLab in Heidelberg, Germany, where he focuses on the development of printed optoelectronic devices and the use of biofriendly and sustainable materials in electronics. Prior to his current post, he worked as a postdoctoral researcher in the Center for Polymers and Organic Solids of the University of California Santa Barbara, USA.

High-performance methylammonium-free ideal-band-gap perovskite solar cells

Summary The development of mixed tin-lead (Sn-Pb)-based perovskite solar cells (PSCs) with low band gap (1.2–1.4 eV) has become critical not only for pushing single-junction devices toward the maximum efficiency given by the Shockley-Queisser limit, but also for enabling all-perovskite tandem devices beyond this limit. However, achieving high power-conversion efficiency (PCE) and long-term device operation stability simultaneously remains a significant challenge for Sn-Pb-based PSCs. Here, we demonstrate near ideal-band-gap (∼1.34 eV) methylammonium-free Sn-Pb-based PSCs with high efficiency (∼20%) and promising operational stability of maintaining >80% of initial PCE over 750 h under maximum-power-point tracking. The key to this success is the use of a SnCl2⋅3FACl complex additive that improves the microstructure and reduces the development of residual stress in the Sn-Pb perovskite thin films, which in turn enhances the efficiency and stability of the Sn-Pb-based ideal-band-gap PSCs.

Blue-violet emission of silicon carbonitride thin films prepared by sputtering and annealing treatment

In the study of the blue-violet emission properties of SiCN thin films, the emission intensity depends on the crystal structure of thin films. The annealing process is widely used in the preparation process of thin films as one of the effective means to remove defects and improve crystal quality. In this study, SiCN thin films were prepared by RF magnetron sputtering method utilizing sintered silicon nitride and graphite targets on Si/SiO2 substrates. Then, the samples were separately annealed from 600 to 1000℃ with an argon ambient for 30 min to optimize the photoluminescence performance of the blue-violet emission. The characterization results of XRD spectra show that the crystallinity of the SiCN sample with 900 °C annealing temperature is the best. The chemical bonds, and the surface morphology of the samples changed greatly after annealing. The RMS roughness of the SiCN samples increased from 1.9 nm to 20.19 nm before and after annealing at 900 °C. Also, the results of PL spectra show that the intensity of blue-violet emission at 365 nm reinforced 28.6 times after annealing at 1000 °C. It makes the SiCN film be a candidate of phosphor for blue-violet LEDs.