Open AccessHigh Temperature Annealing Studies on the Piezoelectric Properties of Thin Aluminum Nitride Films
Author(s) -
R Farrell,
V R Pagan,
A Kabulski,
Sridhar Kuchibhatl,
J Harman,
K R Kasarla,
L E Rodak,
P Famouri,
J Peter Hensel,
D Korakakis
Publication year - 2008
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Reports
DOI - 10.2172/1015474
Subject(s) - materials science , thin film , annealing (glass) , nitride , metalorganic vapour phase epitaxy , piezoelectricity , aluminium , aluminium nitride , piezoelectric coefficient , composite material , analytical chemistry (journal) , nanotechnology , chemistry , epitaxy , layer (electronics) , chromatography
A Rapid Thermal Annealing (RTA) system was used to anneal sputtered and MOVPE grown Aluminum Nitride (AlN) thin films at temperatures up to 1000°C in ambient and controlled environments. According to Energy Dispersive X-Ray Analysis (EDAX), the films annealed in an ambient environment rapidly oxidize after five minutes at 1000°C. Below 1000°C the films oxidized linearly as a function of annealing temperature which is consistent with what has been reported in literature [1]. Laser Doppler Vibrometry (LDV) was used to measure the piezoelectric coefficient, d33, of these films. Films annealed in an ambient environment had a weak piezoelectric response indicating that oxidation on the surface of the film reduces the value of d33. A high temperature furnace has been built that is capable of taking in-situ measurements of the piezoelectric response of AlN films. In-situ d33 measurements are recorded up to 300°C for both sputtered and MOVPE-grown AlN thin films. The measured piezoelectric response appears to increase with temperature up to 300°C possibly due to stress in the film