DEPOSITION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF MAGNETRON CO-SPUTTERED InAlN FILM AT DIFFERENT Ar:N2 GAS FLOW RATIOS

Abstract

This work presents the influence of changing Ar:N2 gas ratio on the growth and properties of InAlN films. InAlN films were deposited on [Formula: see text]-type Si(111) substrates by using magnetron co-sputtering method in 6:12, 10:10, 12:8 and 12:6 Ar:N2 mixtures at 300[Formula: see text]C. The surface, structural, electrical and optical properties of the deposited films were evaluated at different Ar:N2 ratios. The grain size and film thickness were increased by increasing the Ar flow with respect to N2. Structural characterization by X-ray diffraction (XRD) revealed an improvement in the crystalline quality of the [Formula: see text]-axis-oriented InAlN film by adjusting the Ar:N2 ratio to 12:8, however no diffraction peak corresponding to InAlN was detected at 6:12 Ar:N2 mixture. The surface roughness of InAlN film exhibited an increasing trend whereas the electrical resistivity of the film was decreased by increasing the Ar:N2 ratio. The bandgap of InAlN film was calculated from the optical reflectance spectra and it was found to change by changing the Ar:N2 gas ratio. The analysis of results from this work shows that the InAlN film with improved physical properties can be obtained through reactive magnetron co-sputtering method by adjusting the Ar:N2mixture to 12:8.