Deposition of AIN thin films on Si substrates using 3C-SiC as buffer layer by reactive magnetron sputtering

摘要

Aluminium nitride (AIN) thin films were deposited on a polycrystalline (poly) 3C-SiC layer by a pulsed reactive magnetron sputtering system. The columnar structure of AIN thin films was observed by FE-SEM. The surface roughness of AIN films on the 3C-SiC layer was 9.3 nm. The X-ray diffraction pattern of AIN films on SiC buffer layers was highly oriented at (002). Full width at half maximum of the rocking curve near (002) reflections was 1.3°. The infrared absorbance spectrum indicated that the residual stress of AIN thin films grown on SiC buffer layers was nearly negligible. The 3C-SiC intermediate layers are promising for the realisation of nitride based electronic and mechanical devices.