Growth of HfO2/TiO2 nanolaminates by atomic layer deposition and HfO2-TiO2 by atomic partial layer deposition Article uri icon

abstract

  • A novel growth technique, called atomic partial layer deposition (APLD), has been proposed to expand the applications of, and the research in, atomic layer deposition (ALD). This technique allows the possibility for the fabrication of well-controlled alloys on a single atomic layer scale. To demonstrate the capabilities of this technique, samples of HfO2 and TiO2 were prepared as conventional ALD nanolaminates through the repeated exposure of the separated metal-precursor and reactant. Subsequently, HfO2-TiO2 APLD growth mode samples were obtained by varying the precursor doses and exposure times to obtain a fractional coverage in the monolayer of Hf and Ti. The thickness and structure of the samples were studied by X-ray reflectivity. The surface topography was studied using atomic force microscopy along with Kelvin probe force microscopy for surface potential mapping. Clear differences on the surface, compared with the conventional HfO2/TiO2 ALD nanolaminates, were observed, which confirmed the HfO2-TiO2 APLD growth. The films were analyzed using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) depth profile scans and angle resolved XPS, where well-defined HfO2 and TiO2 contributions were found for both the conventional and APLD mode samples, and an additional contribution, assigned to a ternary phase Hf-Ti-O, in the APLD grown films was observed. This result confirms that Hf and Ti form an alloy in a monolayer by APLD mode growth. © 2017 Author(s).

publication date

  • 2017-01-01