Sputter Deposition Technology For Al((1-X))Sc(X)N Films With High Sc Concentration

Aluminium scandium nitride (Al1-xScxN) with its strongly enhanced piezoelectric response is the upcoming piezoelectric material of choice in next generation RF filters, sensors, actuators and energy harvesting devices. This paper will concentrate on the deposition technology for Al1-xScxN films with high Sc content. Films with Sc concentrations close to 43 at% have been grown on 200-mm substrates using a cluster type sputter deposition tool. The piezoelectric response will be discussed and correlated with the deposition parameters and film structural properties. The steps required to deliver a high-volume production solution for high Sc concentration will be described.

About this result

This page is automatically generated and may contain information that is not correct, complete, up-to-date, or relevant to your search query. The same applies to every other page on this website. Please make sure to verify the information with EPFL's official sources.

Related concepts

Related publications

Gabriel Christmann, Stefan Mertin, Paul Muralt, Sylvain Nicolay
IEEE, 2017
Conference paper

Abstract

Official source

https://infoscience.epfl.ch/record/230871?ln=en

About this result

Related concepts (8)

Related concepts

Related publications (2)

Related publications

Piezoelectricity

Piezoelectricity (ˌpiːzoʊ-,_ˌpiːtsoʊ-,_paɪˌiːzoʊ-, piˌeɪzoʊ-,_piˌeɪtsoʊ-) is the electric charge that accumulates in certain solid materials—such as crystals, certain ceramics, and biological matter

Sputter deposition

Sputter deposition is a physical vapor deposition (PVD) method of thin film deposition by the phenomenon of sputtering. This involves ejecting material from a "target" that is a source onto a "substr

Film

A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perce

Enhanced piezoelectric properties of c-axis textured aluminium scandium nitride thin films with high scandium content: influence of intrinsic stress and sputtering parameters

Gabriel Christmann, Stefan Mertin, Paul Muralt, Clemens Benedict Nyffeler, Fazel Parsapour, Vladimir Pashchenko, Silviu Cosmin Sandu

Aluminium scandium nitride (ASN) exhibits a largely enhanced piezoelectric response as compared to aluminium nitride (AlN), which makes it an upcoming piezoelectric material for use in next generation RF filters, sensors, actuators and energy harvesting devices. In this work, process-microstructure-property relationships of such sputtered ASN films containing up to 42 at% Sc were investigated. Hereby, the influence of the process parameters on the film structure, the intrinsic stress and the piezoelectric response were carefully investigated. A high piezoelectric response (e(31),(f) = -2.67 C/m(2) and d(33,f) = 10.3 pm/V) was measured for films with 42 at% and 34 at% Sc, respectively. The results are very promising towards industrial applications.

Ieee2017

Non-destructive piezoelectric characterisation of Sc doped aluminium nitride thin films at wafer level

Andrea Mazzalai, Stefan Mertin, Paul Muralt, Clemens Benedict Nyffeler

Scandium doped aluminium nitride (ScAlN) gained much attention during last years, since its piezoelectric response is much enlarged as compared to pure AlN films. Above 30% Sc the films are of high interest for piezoMEMS sensing and actuation, ultrasound generation, as well as energy harvesting applications. In this work, piezo-performance uniformity maps are presented for 20% and 33% Sc containing films, sputter deposited on 200-mm wafers. Furthermore, we employ a new method to determine the electro-mechanical coupling k(t)(2). Coupling results for various Sc/(Sc+Al) concentration (0, 6, 20, 26, 33%) are shown. In addition, the dielectric constant epsilon(r) and dielectric loss tan delta, and the transversal and the longitudinal piezoelectric coefficients, e(31,f) and d(33,f,) were measured. The wafers show a high with-in-wafer uniformity (1 sigma uniformity < 2% for Sc20Al80N and < 1% for Sc33Al67N). The highest coupling k(t)(2) = 21.2% was achieved for a 33% Sc film. The presented Al-Sc property-uniformity maps provide a good foundation for ScAlN based MEMS device design and manufacturing.

IEEE2019