Impact of Ions on Film Conformality and Crystallinity during Plasma-Assisted Atomic Layer Deposition of TiO₂.

ABSTRACT: This work demonstrates that ions have a strong impact on the growth per cycle (GPC) and material properties during plasma-assisted atomic layer deposition (ALD) of TiO₂ (titanium dioxide), even under mild plasma conditions with low-energy (<20 eV) ions. Using vertical trench nanostructures and microscopic cavity structures that locally block the flux of ions, it is observed that the impact of (low-energy) ions is an important factor for the TiO₂ film conformality. Specifically, it is demonstrated that the GPC in terms of film thickness can increase by 20 to >200% under the influence of ions, which is correlated with an increase in film crystallinity and an associated strong reduction in the wet etch rate (in 30:1 buffered HF). The magnitude of the influence of ions is

SUBMITTER: Arts K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8280614 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature