AVS 64th International Symposium & Exhibition
    Advanced Surface Engineering Division Wednesday Sessions
       Session SE+2D+NS+SS+TF-WeA

Paper SE+2D+NS+SS+TF-WeA3
Multi-technique Approach for Studying Co-sputtered M-Si-O Thin Films

Wednesday, November 1, 2017, 3:00 pm, Room 11

Session: Nanostructured Thin Films and Coatings
Presenter: Lirong Sun, General Dynamics Information Technology
Authors: L. Sun, General Dynamics Information Technology
N.R. Murphy, Air Force Research Laboratory
J.T. Grant, Azimuth Corporation
Correspondent: Click to Email
In this work, the M-Si-O thin films (M: Al and Ta) were prepared through reactive pulsed DC magnetron co-sputtering of M and Si targets in an O2/Ar mixture. The M fraction [M/(M+Si)] of different chemical compositions (MxSiyOz), as determined through X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), was varied between 0 and 100% by changing sputtering power applied to the M targets. The film thickness, refractive index (n) and extinction coefficient (k) were determined by in situ spectroscopic ellipsometry (iSE). Concurrent with ellipsometry measurements, the in situ stress evolution of the films, as correlated to the M fraction, was investigated using a multi-beam optical sensor (MOS) system. The MOS system was used to measure both intrinsic stress resulting from the deposition process as well as thermal stress evolved during heating/cooling process. Data obtained through stress monitoring during heating and cooling was used to calculate the coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE). The density and crystallinity of the films were measured by X-ray diffraction and X-ray reflectivity, respectively. Transmission and reflectance of the films were carried out by UV-Vis-NIR spectroscopy. Finally, this study derives a process-property-microstructure relationship correlating the optical constants, CTE, intrinsic stress, and M fraction.