Stoichiometric composition variation of the AlN thin films grown by using reactive DC magnetron sputtering

Abstract

The growth mechanism with changing plasma power and reactive gas flow rate of AlN thin films grown by using reactive-gas DC magnetron sputtering on ITO/quartz substrates was investigated. We discusse the growth mechanism in terms of the growth rate, surface morphology, and crys-tallinity. The plasma power induces an increase in the growth rate mainly due to an increase in the Al supply whereas the nitrogen gas flow affects the atomic nitrogen supply while the Al supply decreases due to reactions at the target’s surface. Therefore, the sputtering conditions, such as the plasma power and the nitrogen gas flow, have remarkable influences on the sputtering process; consequently, the stoichiometry of the AlN layer is changed, which is very important for high-quality thin-film growth. ？ 2017, The Korean Physical Society. All rights reserved.