Piezoelectric Aluminum Nitride Thin Films By Pecvd

Polycrystalline aluminum nitride thin films were produced with a microwave-plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition technique. The plasma-injector distance, the substrate temperature and the RF bias were the main variables which allowed achieving this objective. At the time, it was possible to control the preferential orientation as 0001 or 1010, both interesting for piezoelectric applications. The growth mechanisms that conducted to film microstructure development under different process conditions were explained, enriched by the comparison with a physical vapor deposition sputtering technique. The obtained films were characterized in their piezoelectric performance, including the construction of surface acoustic wave devices and bulk acoustic wave devices. Adequate piezoelectric response and acoustic velocities were obtained for 0001 oriented films, while 1010 oriented films did not show piezoelectric response under the configurations essayed. An extensive analysis was done in order to explain these behaviors.