Thermomechanical properties of aluminum oxide thin films made by atomic layer deposition
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A1 Alkuperäisartikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä
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en
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10
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Journal of Vacuum Science and Technology A: Vacuum, Surfaces and Films, Volume 40, issue 6
Abstract
In microelectromechanical system devices, thin films experience thermal processing at temperatures some cases exceeding the growth or deposition temperature of the film. In the case of the thin film grown by atomic layer deposition (ALD) at relatively low temperatures, post-ALD thermal processing or high device operation temperature might cause performance issues at device level or even device failure. In this work, residual stress and the role of intrinsic stress in ALD Al2O3 films grown from Me3Al and H2O, O3, or O2 (plasma ALD) were studied via post-ALD thermal processing. Thermal expansion coefficient was determined using thermal cycling and the double substrate method. For some samples, post-ALD thermal annealing was done in nitrogen at 300, 450, 700, or 900 °C. Selected samples were also studied for crystallinity, composition, and optical properties. Samples that were thermally annealed at 900 °C had increased residual stress value (1400-1600 MPa) upon formation of denser Al2O3 phase. The thermal expansion coefficient varied somewhat between Al2O3 made using different oxygen precursors. For thermal-Al2O3, intrinsic stress decreased with increasing growth temperature. ALD Al2O3 grown with plasma process had the lowest intrinsic stress. The results show that ALD Al2O3 grown at 200 and 300 °C is suitable for applications, where films are exposed to post-ALD thermal processing even at temperature of 700 °C without a major change in optical properties or residual stress.Description
Funding Information: This work was carried out within the MECHALD project funded by Business Finland and is linked to the Finnish Centers of Excellence in Atomic Layer Deposition (Ref. No. 251220) and Nuclear and Accelerator Based Physics (Ref Nos. 213503 and 251353) of the Academy of Finland. Publisher Copyright: © 2022 Author(s).
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Ylivaara, O M E, Langner, A, Ek, S, Malm, J, Julin, J, Laitinen, M, Ali, S, Sintonen, S, Lipsanen, H, Sajavaara, T & Puurunen, R L 2022, 'Thermomechanical properties of aluminum oxide thin films made by atomic layer deposition', Journal of Vacuum Science and Technology A: Vacuum, Surfaces and Films, vol. 40, no. 6, 062414. https://doi.org/10.1116/6.0002095