AlN on polysilicon piezoelectric cantilevers for sensors/actuators

Giordano, Cristina; Ingrosso, I.; Todaro, M. T.; Maruccio, Giuseppe; Guido, Stefano; Cingolani, R.; Passaseo, A.; Vittorio, Massimo De

doi:10.1016/j.mee.2008.12.075

Cited by 40 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…All these features make AlN a suitable semiconductor for application in optical components in the ultraviolet spectral region [2,3], surface acoustic wave devices [4], micro-electro-mechanical systems [5] and coating layers. AlN is also widely used as buffer layer for the growth of GaN, in order to reduce the lattice mismatch, stabilize the metal polarity and prevent unwanted reactions between GaN and the substrate [refs.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Two-step method for the deposition of AlN by radio frequency sputtering

et al. 2013

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This paper presents a detailed study of the influence of deposition conditions on structural and morphological properties of AlN thin films synthesized on c-sapphire substrates by radio frequency (RF) reactive sputtering. After the optimization of deposition parameters such as RF power and substrate temperature, the substrate bias has been identified as a critical variable to improve the structural properties of the AlN layers. The use of negative bias leads to a decrease of the full-width at half-maximum (FWHM) of the rocking curve of the AlN(0002) x-ray reflection and an increase of the grain size. However, 2θ/ω x-ray scans of layers grown under negative bias reveal lattice disorder at the AlN/sapphire interface, which is attributed to the highly accelerated positive ions (Al + , N + , N 2 + ) arriving to the substrate at the initial stages of the deposition process. In order to prevent this interface degradation, we propose a twostep deposition method which consists of starting the growth with an unbiased AlN buffer layer, at least 30 nm thick, followed by AlN deposition under negative bias. This procedure results in high-quality AlN layers with FWHM of the rocking curve of the (0002) reflection of 1.63°, grain size of~40 nm and root-mean-square surface roughness of 0.4 nm.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Two-step method for the deposition of AlN by radio frequency sputtering

et al. 2013

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“…Aluminum nitride thin films can be grown by sputtering with excellent polycrystalline quality on different substrates including dielectrics, semiconductors and metallic layers, as well as on flexible substrates, such as polymers and polyimides [16,17,18,19,20,21,22,23,24]. Due to its good electromechanical properties and low temperature growth technique (below 400

^{\circ} normalC

) in the sputtering chamber, AlN is suitable for the fabrication of stress-driven MEMS devices [25].…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nitride-Based Materials for Flexible MEMS Tactile and Flow Sensors in Robotics

Abels

Mastronardi

Guido

et al. 2017

Sensors

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The response to different force load ranges and actuation at low energies is of considerable interest for applications of compliant and flexible devices undergoing large deformations. We present a review of technological platforms based on nitride materials (aluminum nitride and silicon nitride) for the microfabrication of a class of flexible micro-electro-mechanical systems. The approach exploits the material stress differences among the constituent layers of nitride-based (AlN/Mo, SixNy/Si and AlN/polyimide) mechanical elements in order to create microstructures, such as upwardly-bent cantilever beams and bowed circular membranes. Piezoresistive properties of nichrome strain gauges and direct piezoelectric properties of aluminum nitride can be exploited for mechanical strain/stress detection. Applications in flow and tactile sensing for robotics are described.

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“…By contrast, AlN is lead-free and has good temperature performance and can be prepared easily by magnetron sputtering method. AlN is still widely used in MEMS sensor [12], actuator [13] and harvester [7] due to its MEMS process compatibility.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%