PROCESSES STUDY ON Al₂O₃ THIN FILMS BY RF MAGNETRON REACTIVE SPUTTERING

Al₂O₃ thin films are successfully deposited by RF magnetron reactive sputtering method on stainlesssteel and silicon wafer substrates.The aluminum is the target and oxygen is the reactive gas.The deposition rate,structure and surface morphology of aluminum oxide thin films are studied.The results show that the deposition rate firstly increases linearly,then slightly decreases with the increase of sputtering power.The deposition rate decreases with increasing the distance between target and substrate.With increasing sputtering pressure,the deposition rate increases firstly,then decreases after reaching a maximum.There is a sharp decrease in the deposition rate when the target is changed from metallic to oxide sputtering with the increase of oxygen partial pressure.X-ray diffraction of the deposited films shows that all the films are amorphous in room temperature.The AFM surface morphology shows that the microstructure of the aluminum oxide thin films deposited is column.