Aluminum Nitride Thin Films Grown by Sol-Gel Spin Coating Technique

Abstract:

In this study, aluminum nitride (AlN) thin films were grown on p-type silicon (100) substrate by sol-gel spin coating method. Two types of ethanol-based precursors were prepared, namely, precursors with and without the aid of diethanolamine (DEA). The objective of this work is to investigate the effects of the DEA on the surface morphology, structural and optical properties of the deposited thin films. The coating films were undergone nitridation process under ammonia ambient at 1100 °C for 60 min. The surface morphology and structural properties of the deposited AlN thin films were investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). XRD results revealed that both samples have AlN (100) preferred orientation. In addition, the crystallinity of sample without the aid of DEA is higher compared to the sample prepared with DEA. While, the AFM results showed that both samples have uniform and smooth surface. The optical properties of AlN thin films was investigated by Raman spectroscopy. For sample without DEA, Raman results showed the present of wurtzite AlN characteristics phonon modes of E₂(high) and A₁(LO) at 660 cm^-1 and 892 cm^-1, respectively. Whereas only E₂(high) is observed for sample with the aid of DEA. Finally, all the results revealed that the present of DEA has a strong influence on the properties of deposited AlN thin films and film prepared without DEA have better quality.

• Periodical: Solid State Phenomena (Volume 290)
• Pages: 137-141
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/SSP.290.137
• Online since: April 2019
• Authors: Nurul Atikah Mohd Isa*, Sha Shiong Ng, Zainuriah Hassan
• Keywords: Aluminum Nitride, Nitridation, Sol-Gel, Spin Coating, Surfactant

References

[1] D.-S. Tsai, W.-C. Lien, D.-H. Lien, K.-M. Chen, M.-L. Tsai, D. G. Senesky, Y.-C. Yu, A. P. Pisano, and J.-H. He, Solar-Blind Photodetectors for Harsh Electronics, Sci. Rep. 3 (2013) 2628-2632.

DOI: 10.1038/srep02628

[2] J. Zhou, H. F. Pang, L. Garcia-Gancedo, E. Iborra, M. Clement, M. De Miguel-Ramos, H. Jin, J. K. Luo, S. Smith, S. R. Dong, D. M. Wang, and Y. Q. Fu, Discrete microfluidics based on aluminum nitride surface acoustic wave devices, Microfluid. Nanofluidics 18 (2015) 537–548.

DOI: 10.1007/s10404-014-1456-1

[3] E. Yarar, V. Hrkac, C. Zamponi, a. Piorra, L. Kienle, and E. Quandt, Low temperature aluminum nitride thin films for sensory applications, AIP Adv. 6 (2016) 075115-075126.

DOI: 10.1063/1.4959895

[4] C. Duquenne, M.-P. Besland, P. Y. Tessier, E. Gautron, Y. Scudeller, and D. Averty, Thermal conductivity of aluminium nitride thin films prepared by reactive magnetron sputtering, J. Phys. D. Appl. Phys. 45 (2012) 015301-015309.

DOI: 10.1088/0022-3727/45/1/015301

[5] Z. Liu, D. Li, S. Wei, W. Wang, F. Tian, K. Bao, D. Duan, H. Yu, B. Liu, and T. Cui, Bonding Properties of Aluminum Nitride at High Pressure, Inorg. Chem. 56 (2017) 7494–7500.

DOI: 10.1021/acs.inorgchem.7b00980

[6] S. Çörekçi, M. K. Öztürk, M. Çakmak, S. Özçelik, and E. Özbay, The influence of thickness and ammonia flow rate on the properties of AlN layers, Mater. Sci. Semicond. Process. 15 (2012) 32–36.

DOI: 10.1016/j.mssp.2011.06.003

[7] F. A. Faria, K. Nomoto, Z. Hu, S. Rouvimov, H. Xing, and D. Jena, Low temperature AlN growth by MBE and its application in HEMTs, J. Cryst. Growth 425 (2015) 133–137.

DOI: 10.1016/j.jcrysgro.2015.03.039

[8] T. Baker, A. Mayo, Z. Veisi, P. Lu, and J. Schmitt, Hydride vapor phase epitaxy of AlN using a high temperature hot-wall reactor, J. Cryst. Growth 403 (2014) 29–31.

DOI: 10.1016/j.jcrysgro.2014.06.018

[9] K. L. Foo, M. Kashif, U. Hashim, S. M. Usman Ali, and M. Willander, Study of ZnO thin film on silicon substrate by sol-gel spin coating method for bio-medical application, 2012 Int. Conf. Biomed. Eng. (2012) 223–226.

DOI: 10.1109/icobe.2012.6179009

[10] N. Nagarani, P. Smgcw, and V. Vasu, Structural and Optical Characterization of ZnO thin films by Sol- Gel Method, J. Photonics Spintron. 2 (2013) 19–21.

[11] C. Y. Fong, S. S. Ng, F. K. Yam, H. A. Hassan, and Z. Hassan, Synthesis of wurtzite GaN thin film via spin coating method, Mater. Sci. Semicond. Process. 17 (2014) 63–66.

DOI: 10.1016/j.mssp.2013.08.013

[12] C. Y. Fong, S. S. Ng, F. K. Yam, H. Abu Hassan, and Z. Hassan, Growth of GaN on sputtered GaN buffer layer via low cost and simplified sol-gel spin coating method, Vacuum 119 (2015) 119–122.

DOI: 10.1016/j.vacuum.2015.04.042

[13] A. S. Razeen, a. S. Gadallah, and M. M. El-Nahass, Ultraviolet Stimulated Emission from Sol-Gel Spin Coated ZnO Thin Films, Adv. Mater. Sci. Eng. 2017 (2017) 1-7.

DOI: 10.1155/2017/9464862

[14] Z. Y. Lee, S. S. Ng, and F. K. Yam, Growth mechanism of indium nitride via sol–gel spin coating method and nitridation process, Surf. Coatings Technol. 310 (2017) 38–42.

DOI: 10.1016/j.surfcoat.2016.12.066

[15] J. Hargreaves, Some considerations related to the use of the Scherrer equation in powder X-ray diffraction as applied to heterogeneous catalysts, Catal. Struct. React. 2 (2016) 33–37.

DOI: 10.1080/2055074x.2016.1252548

[16] M. S. Mastuli, N. S. Ansari, M. A. Nawawi, and A. M. Mahat, Effects of Cationic Surfactant in Sol-gel Synthesis of Nano Sized Magnesium Oxide, APCBEE Procedia 3 (2012) 93–98.

DOI: 10.1016/j.apcbee.2012.06.052

[17] C. Y. Fong, S. S. Ng, F. K. Yam, H. Abu Hassan, and Z. Hassan, Synthesis of two-dimensional gallium nitride via spin coating method: Influences of nitridation temperatures, J. Sol-Gel Sci. Technol. 68 (2013) 95–101.

DOI: 10.1007/s10971-013-3139-x

[18] S. Y. Kuo, F. I. Lai, W. C. Chen, and C. N. Hsiao, Catalyst-free growth and characterization of gallium nitride nanorods, J. Cryst. Growth 310 (2008) 5129–5133.

DOI: 10.1016/j.jcrysgro.2008.08.047

[19] H. Z. Xi, B. Y. Man, C. S. Chen, M. Liu, J. Wei, and S. Y. Yang, Effects of annealing temperature on amorphous GaN films formed on Si(1 1 1) by pulsed laser deposition, Semicond. Sci. Technol. 24 (2009) 085024-085030.

DOI: 10.1088/0268-1242/24/8/085024

[20] D. Y. Song, M. Holtz, a. Chandolu, S. a. Nikishin, E. N. Mokhov, Y. Makarov, and H. Helava, Optical phonon decay in bulk aluminum nitride, Appl. Phys. Lett. 89 (2006) 021901-021903.

DOI: 10.1063/1.2219092