Preparation of Pb(Zr, Ti)O₃ Thin Films by Plasma-Assisted Sputtering

Abstract

A novel plasma-assisted RF magnetron sputtering system with an immersed coil antenna between a target and a substrate was applied for preparing Pb(Zr, Ti)O 3 (PZT) thin films. The antenna enabled the generation of inductively coupled plasma (ICP) independently of the target RF source. The plasma assisted by the antenna resulted in the changes of ion fluxes and these energy distributions irradiating to the substrate. The crystalline phase of the deposited PZT thin films was occupied by the perovskite phase depending on the antenna power. In addition, a high deposition rate, modified uniformity of film thickness, and a dense film structure with large columnar grains were obtained as a result of effects of the assisted plasma. The application of the plasma-assisted sputtering method may enable the preparation of PZT thin films that have excellent properties.

Characterization of CuCl nanocrystals in SiO2 matrix fabricated by inductively coupled plasma-assisted sputtering deposition

“…This technique is named ICP-assisted magnetron sputtering. 12,13 However, so far this technique has not been applied for the preparation of the semiconductor thin films or nanocrystals. Until now, this technique has only been applied for the fabrication of Cu metal films, 9,10 Ti coating hydrocarbon film, 11 and others.…”

Preparation of a high-quality PZT thick film with performance comparable to those of bulk materials for applications in MEMS

“…Most of these microdevices have been formed using PZT materials together with Si single crystals, because Si micromachining technology is well established [8]. However, thick PZT films are difficult to directly produce on silicon substrates using conventional thin film processing, such as solgel [9], laser ablation [10], sputtering [11], etc. The sol-gel composite method developed recently can produce PZT films up to 100 µm thickness, but the low density of the films, due to insufficient sintering, leads to a lower dielectric constant and piezoelectric coefficients [12,13].…”