Microwave Irradiation an Alternative Source for Conventional Annealing: A Study of Aluminum Oxide Thin Films by a Sol-gel Process

摘要

The lower temperature and shorter time with microwave irradiation might be ascribed to the activating and facilitating effect of microwave on solid phase diffusion. Using microwave-heating process, it is possible to achieve enhanced mechanical properties such as higher hardness, improved scratch resistance and structure texturing. In the present investigation, thin films of Al_2O_3 have been prepared by simple and cost effective sol-gel process on quartz substrates, and as deposited films are subjected to annealing in microwave irradiation at different powers. It is evident that there is a dramatic change in the mechanical properties of the films irradiated in microwave compared to the conventional annealing temperature.