Growth and characteristics of tantalum oxide thin films deposited using thermionic vacuum arc technology

Abstract

Tantalum pentoxide (Ta2O5) thin films were synthesized using thermionic vacuum arc (TVA) technology. TVA is an original deposition method using a combination of anodic arc and electron gun system for the growth of thin films from solid precursors under vacuum of 10−6 Torr. The properties of the deposited Ta2O5 thin films were investigated in terms of wettability, refractive index, morphology, and structure. The surface free energy was determined by means of surface energy evaluation system indicating a hydrophilic character and the refractive index was measured by Filmetrics F20 device. The morphology was determined from bright field transmission electron microscopy (TEM) image performed by Philips CM 120 ST TEM system. It exhibits nanoparticles of 3–6 nm diameter smoothly distributed. Selected area electron diffraction pattern revealed the contrast fringes given by complex polycrystalline particles included in the amorphous film. The measured fringes could be indexed using monoclinic structure of Ta2O5.

Electrical and optical properties of tantalum oxide thin films prepared by reactive magnetron sputtering

“…In optical and optoelectronic applications, Ta 2 O 5 thin film is used as a high index and low loss materials for optical waveguides interference filters, high-reflective thin films mirrors for solar cells, charge coupled devices (CCDs), high power laser equipments and electroluminescent devices [1][2][3][4][5]. In microelectronic applications, Ta 2 O 5 thin film is used in highdensity dynamic-random-access memories (DRAMs) as well as in metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFETs) due to its high dielectric constant, high chemical, thermal stability, low leakage-current density and being compatible with the microelectronic processing technology [6,7].…”

Characterization of Platinum-Based Thin Films Deposited by Thermionic Vacuum Arc (TVA) Method

“…Thus, the generated plasma expands in the vacuum chamber, touching the substrate [19][20][21][22][23]. This generated plasma minimizes the contamination of the deposited thin film, increases its structural quality due to the presence of plasma ions that can be accelerated to the adequately polarized substrates and, due to using electrons instead of ions to vaporize the material [24][25][26].…”

Thermionic Vacuum Arc—A Versatile Technology for Thin Film Deposition and Its Applications

“…CIS has a potential application on absorber material for thin-film solar-cells. Tantalum pentoxide on Si substrates for applications as antireflective or highly reflective film mirrors for solar-cells, for birefringent coatings, or as a component of multilayer interference filters in optical devices was studied [140]. The films were uniform, smooth, with a low roughness and had a rather high refractive index 2.07.…”