Low dielectric loss in conjunction with high tunability are simultaneous requirements for tunable device applications which have proved problematic to achieve. In this work, material compositional design and optimized film processing methods were employed to simultaneously lower the dielectric loss and enhance the dielectric tunability of Ba0.6Sr0.4TiO3 (BST) based thin films without compromising the device impedance matching (εr<500) and control voltage (<10 V) requirements. The films compositional design was achieved by Mg doping BST from 3 to 10 mol %. The Mg doped thin films were fabricated via the metalorganic solution deposition technique using carboxylate-alkoxide precursors and postdeposition annealing in an oxygen ambience at 750 °C for 60 min. The films dielectric loss at these doping levels was identical, tan δ∼0.007. In contrast, the films permittivity (339–220), leakage current density (2.55×10−8–2.43×10−9 A/cm2), tunability (21.3%–5.7%), and grain size (75.2–61.55 nm) were observed to decrease with increasing Mg concentration levels from 3 to 10 mol %, respectively. Device quality values of tunability, 40% and 32%, for the 3 and 7 mol % doped BST films, respectively, were achieved by elevating the applied bias from 237 to 474 kV/cm. This device quality tuning is compatible with voltage requirements of current semiconductor based systems. Our results suggest that the low level acceptor doping from 3 to 7 mol %, optimized precursor solution concentration (0.43 M), and oxygenated postdeposition thermal processing were found to work in concert to lower dielectric loss, limit defect density concentration, optimize film microstructure, and eliminate undesirable film/electrode interfacial phases. As a result, high quality BST thin films, with their resultant high breakdown fields, were realized. It is the excellent film quality (i.e., optimized composition and microstructure), which allowed the enhanced tunability at elevated dc bias to be achieved without risk of dielectric breakdown. The enhanced dielectric and insulating properties of the 3–7 mol % Mg doped BST thin films make them excellent candidates for integration into tunable devices.

No abstract

The influence of low concentration (1 mol %) Mg doping on the structural, microstructural, surface morphological, and dielectric properties of Ba1−xSrxTiO3 (BST) thin films has been measured and analyzed. The films were fabricated on MgO and Pt–Si substrates via the metalorganic solution deposition technique using carboxylate–alkoxide precursors and postdeposition annealed at 800 °C (film/MgO substrates) and 750 °C (film/Pt–Si substrates). The structure, microstructure, surface morphology, and film/substrate compositional quality were analyzed by glancing angle x-ray diffraction, field emission scanning microscopy, atomic force microscopy, and Auger electron spectroscopy studies. Dielectric properties of unpatterned films were measured at 10 GHz using a coupled, tuned split dielectric resonator system, and at 100 kHz using metal–insulator–metal capacitors. The Mg-doped BST films exhibited improved dielectric and insulating properties compared to the undoped Ba0.6Sr0.4TiO3 thin films. The improved dielectric properties, low leakage current, and good dielectric tunability of the low level Mg-doped BST thin films merits strong potential for utilization in tunable microwave devices.

Thin-film Y3−xAl5O12:Tbx3+ (YAG:Tb) phosphor derived from a sol-gel chemistry is analyzed by x-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, photoluminescence (PL) and cathodoluminescence (CL). The metal alkoxides organic precursors were chosen as the starting materials to form the sol-gel. This liquid sol-gel was spin coated on sapphire and silicon substrates to form the uniform thin films, then crystallized by annealing. The PL intensity of the crystallized film at 545 nm green emission was 15 times higher than that of the as-coated noncrystalline film. CL measurements show that luminance and efficiency are comparable to the films deposited by other techniques.

In this paper we report recent advances in pulsed-laser-deposited AlN thin films for high-temperature capping of SiC, passivation of SiC-based devices, and fabrication of a piezoelectric MEMS/NEMS resonator on Pt-metallized SiO 2 /Si. The AlN films grown using the reactive laser ablation technique were found to be highly stoichiometric, dense with an optical band gap of 6.2 eV, and with a surface smoothness of less than 1 nm. A low-temperature buffer-layer approach was used to reduce the lattice and thermal mismatch strains. The dependence of the quality of AlN thin films and its characteristics as a function of processing parameters are discussed. Due to high crystallinity, near-perfect stoichiometry, and high packing density, pulsed-laser-deposited AlN thin films show a tendency to withstand high temperatures up to 1600°C, and which enables it to be used as an anneal capping layer for SiC wafers for removing ion-implantation damage and dopant activation. The laser-deposited AlN thin films show conformal coverage on SiC-based devices and exhibit an electrical break-down strength of 1.66 MV/cm up to 350°C when used as an insulator in Ni/AlN/SiC metal-insulator-semiconductor (MIS) devices. Pulsed laser deposition (PLD) AlN films grown on Pt/ SiO 2 /Si (100) substrates for radio-frequency microelectrical and mechanical systems and nanoelectrical and mechanical systems (MEMS and NEMS) demonstrated resonators having high Q values ranging from 8,000 to 17,000 in the frequency range of 2.5-0.45 MHz. AlN thin films were characterized by x-ray diffraction, Rutherford backscattering spectrometry (in normal and oxygen resonance mode), atomic force microscopy, ultraviolet (UV)-visible spectroscopy, and scanning electron microscopy. Applications exploiting characteristics of high bandgap, high bond strength, excellent piezoelectric characteristics, extremely high chemical inertness, high electrical resistivity, high breakdown strength, and high thermal stability of the pulsed-laser-deposited thin films have been discussed in the context of emerging developments of SiC power devices, for high-temperature electronics, and for radio frequency (RF) MEMS.