Dresden 2003 – scientific programme

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DS: Dünne Schichten

DS 24: Poster

DS 24.25: Poster

Tuesday, March 25, 2003, 14:30–17:00, P2a

Properties of zirconium oxynitride films — •James Mbiyu Ngaruiya, Oliver Kappertz, Selvaraj Venkataraj, Robert Drese, Tom Pedersen, and Matthias Wuttig — I. Physikalisches Institut der RWTH Aachen,D-52056 Aachen

Thin films of zirconium oxynitride produced at room temperature by direct current reactive magnetron sputtering show a remarkable improvement in growth rate, density and refractive index while surface roughness decreases as compared to zirconium oxide films. Furthermore a similar monoclinic zirconium oxide structure with improved grain size is determined for films prepared up to 80% nitrogen flow. The exact role of nitrogen, its position and concentration in the lattice, as well as cause(s) of the overall modifications in the properties of the oxynitrides as compared to oxides need to be understood for successful exploitation of these materials. To address these, we carried out more studies on zirconium oxynitrides and performed comparative studies with hafnium oxynitrides. Further analysis on zirconium oxynitrides reveal deposition stress that is dependent on process conditions and composition. Rutherford backscattering data show very low nitrogen incorporation up to 70% nitrogen flow. This behaviour is analyzed in terms of thermodynamic data and compared with our results. An X-ray diffraction analysis on powder sample has confirmed an earlier structure determined for thin films. We also report on preliminary results for the hafnium oxynitrides.