Lapeyre, Léo; Hain, Caroline; Sturm, Patrick; Metzger, Janos; Borzi, Aurelio; Wieczerzak, Krzysztof; Raynaud, Patrice; Michler, Johann; Nelis, Thomas (2023). Deposition and characterisation of c-axis oriented AlScN thin films via microwave plasma-assisted reactive HiPIMS Surface and Coatings Technology, 464, p. 129540. Elsevier 10.1016/j.surfcoat.2023.129540
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In this work, we demonstrate that highly oriented c-axis aluminium scandium nitride (AlScN) piezoelectric thin films can be deposited via microwave plasma-assisted reactive high power impulse magnetron sputtering (MAR-HiPIMS), without the necessity of substrate heating. A combination of in situ plasma diagnostics, i.e. time-of-flight mass spectrometry (ToF-MS), modified quartz crystal microbalance (m-QCM), and magnetic field measurements allowed to optimise the deposition conditions, in turn maximising the nitrogen supply and ionic flux at the substrate region, while maintaining stable discharge conditions. The AlScN thin films synthesised in this study were deposited as chemically gradient coatings with varying levels of scandium doping, and were characterised using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), and X-ray diffraction (XRD). Obtaining highly textured films was made possible with the addition of microwave plasma to the optimised HiPIMS discharge, where the wurtzite AlScN films (with up to 20 at. % Sc) exhibited a stronger texture in the (0002) orientation compared to films prepared without microwave plasma. Additionally, the use of a microwave plasma led to a significant decrease in oxygen content in the films and increase in nitrogen content, ensuring stoichiometric compositions. Based on the results mentioned above, it is expected that the AlScN thin films fabricated via MAR-HiPIMS would exhibit a strong piezoelectric response.
Item Type: |
Journal Article (Original Article) |
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Division/Institute: |
School of Engineering and Computer Science > Institute for Surface Applied Laser, Phototonics and Surface Technologies ALPS School of Engineering and Computer Science |
Name: |
Lapeyre, Léo 0000-0002-6982-3131; Hain, Caroline 0000-0002-5897-6335; Sturm, Patrick; Metzger, Janos; Borzi, Aurelio; Wieczerzak, Krzysztof; Raynaud, Patrice 0000-0001-6381-3875; Michler, Johann and Nelis, Thomas 0000-0002-0061-8850 |
Subjects: |
Q Science > QC Physics |
ISSN: |
02578972 |
Publisher: |
Elsevier |
Language: |
English |
Submitter: |
Thomas Nelis |
Date Deposited: |
15 May 2023 14:35 |
Last Modified: |
15 May 2023 14:35 |
Publisher DOI: |
10.1016/j.surfcoat.2023.129540 |
Uncontrolled Keywords: |
Aluminium scandium nitride HiPIMS TOFMS microwave plasma Plasma diagnostics Thin films Material characterisation |
ARBOR DOI: |
10.24451/arbor.19205 |
URI: |
https://arbor.bfh.ch/id/eprint/19205 |
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