Study of the Annealing Effect on the γ-Phase Aluminum Oxide Films Prepared by the High-Vacuum MOCVD System

Abstract

γ-phase aluminum oxide (γ-Al2O3) films are grown on MgO (100) wafers by metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD). Post-annealing process is conducted to study the influence of annealing temperature on the properties of the films. Structural analyses indicate that all the deposited and annealed films present a preferred growth orientation of γ-Al2O3 (220) along the MgO (200) direction. And the film annealed at 1100 °C exhibits the best film quality compared with those of the films grown and annealed at other temperatures. Scanning electron microscopy measurements also imply the best surface morphology for the γ-Al2O3 film annealed at 1100 °C, which is in good accordance with the structural analyses. Optical transmittance spectra show good transparency for all the deposited and annealed films in the visible wavelength region with an average transmittance value of 83.5%. The optical bandgaps are estimated to be in the range of 5.56–5.79 eV for the deposited and annealed films. Semiconductor films with high optical transmittance in the visible region as well as wide bandgaps are appropriate for the manufacture of transparent optoelectronic devices and ultraviolet optoelectronic devices.