High Potential Columnar Nanocrystalline AlN Films Deposited by RF Reactive Magnetron Sputtering

Columnar nanocrystalline aluminum nitride(cnc-AlN) thin films with(002) orientation and uniform texture have been deposited successfully on large silicon wafers by RF reactive magnetron sputtering.At the optimum sputtering parameters, the deposited cnc-AlN thin films show a c-axis preferred orientation with a crystallite size of about 28 nm and surface roughness(RMS) of about 1.29 nm. The cnc-AlN thin films were well transparent with an optical band gap about 4.8 e V, and the residual compressive stress and the defect density in the film have been revealed by Ramon spectroscopy. Moreover, piezoelectric performances of the cnc-AlN thin films executed effectively in a film bulk acoustic resonator structure.