| AVS 55th International Symposium & Exhibition | |
| Thin Film | Wednesday Sessions |
| Session TF-WeM |
| Session: | Chemical Vapor Deposition |
| Presenter: | N.M. Fieldhouse, Pennsylvania State University |
| Authors: | N.M. Fieldhouse, Pennsylvania State University S.S.N. Bharadwaja, Pennsylvania State University M.W. Horn, Pennsylvania State University S.M. Pursel, Pennsylvania State University R. Carey, Pennsylvania State University |
| Correspondent: | Click to Email |
Uncooled infrared focal plane arrays (IRFPAs) are the critical technology for night vision cameras needed for military and civilian applications. The two most widely used temperature sensitive imaging materials are vanadium oxide and amorphous silicon typically deposited by reactive ion beam sputtering and PECVD respectively. In this work, we report on vanadium oxide (VOx) films deposited by a reactive pulsed DC magnetron sputtering process using a pure vanadium metal target that are comparable to those presently used in commercial IRFPAs. The structural, microstructure and electrical properties were evaluated as a function of processing parameters such as substrate temperature, range of oxygen to argon (Ar:O2) partial pressures ratio, and pulsed DC power. The VOx films deposited at various substrate temperatures between 30-400 °C over a range of Ar:O2 partial pressure ratios exhibited distinct variations in their microstructure even though most of them appear amorphous using glancing angle X-ray diffraction. The critical electrical properties such as the temperature coefficient of resistance (TCR), resistivity and noise levels were found to be sensitive to film microstructure. Thin films of VOx (50-200 nm) were deposited with resistivity values between 0.1-100 ohm-cm and a TCR in the range of -1.1% to -2.4% K-1. In particular, films grown at lower substrate temperatures with higher oxygen partial pressures have shown finer columnar grain structure and exhibited larger TCR and resistivity.