Impact of Sputter Deposition Parameters on the Leakage Current Behavior of Aluminum Nitride Thin Films

Michael Schneider; Tobias Strunz; Achim Bittner; Ulrich Schmid

doi:10.4028/www.scientific.net/AST.77.29

Paper Titles

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Modeling of 3D Magnetostrictive Systems with Application to Galfenol and Terfenol-D Actuators
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Impact of Sputter Deposition Parameters on the Leakage Current Behavior of Aluminum Nitride Thin Films
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Dielectric Properties of Ba_1-xLa_xTi_1-x/4O₃ Ceramics with Different La³⁺ Content
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Multilayer Ceramic Capacitors Based on the PMN-PT-PFN Solid Solution
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Study on the Fabrication of Visible Light Response Type N-Doped TiO₂ Photocatalyst by SPS
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HomeAdvances in Science and TechnologyAdvances in Science and Technology Vol. 77Impact of Sputter Deposition Parameters on the...

Impact of Sputter Deposition Parameters on the Leakage Current Behavior of Aluminum Nitride Thin Films

Abstract:

In microelectromechanical systems, piezoelectric aluminum nitride (AlN) thin films are commonly used as functional material for sensing and actuating purposes. This is due to excellent dielectric properties as well as a high chemical and thermal stability of AlN. In this work, we investigate the leakage current behavior (i.e. IV characteristic and charging behavior) of AlN thin films sputter deposited at varying plasma powers (300 W – 800 W) and deposition pressures (4 µbar – 8 µbar) up to an electric field of 0.5 MV/cm. First results show a Poole-Frenkel behavior for all samples with an increase in leakage current by orders of magnitude as the degree of c-axis orientation decreases. In addition, the discharging curves (i.e. meaning the current discharge after an applied constant electric field) agree well with the empirical Curie - von Schweidler Law (I(t) = I₀ + I₁t^-n) and an increase of the parameter I₁ with temperature is observed. I₁ shows qualitatively the same behavior as the overall stored charge. Furthermore, the results show a strong negative correlation between the parameters n and the time constant τ_1/2 (i.e. defined as the time after which half the stored charge has decayed), proofing that n is a good indicator for the decay time of the stored charge.

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Periodical:

Advances in Science and Technology (Volume 77)

Pages:

29-34

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/AST.77.29

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Online since:

September 2012

Authors:

Michael Schneider, Tobias Strunz, Achim Bittner, Ulrich Schmid

Keywords:

Aluminum Nitride (AlN), Leakage Current, Sputter Deposition, Transient Discharge Current

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