DEPOSITION AND X-RAY PHOTOELECTRON-SPECTROSCOPY STUDIES ON SPUTTERED CERIUM DIOXIDE THIN-FILMS

Cerium dioxide is a rare earth oxide material that can be useful in va rious optical and electronic applications because of its high refracti ve index and its dielectric constant. The purpose of this study was to conduct an x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis of sputtered cer ium dioxide thin films. The thin films were deposited onto glass subst rates using rf magnetron sputtering. A cerium dioxide target was used and various oxygen-argon gas flow ratios under different sputtering po wer levels were used for deposition. The results presented here charac terize the properties of the rf sputtered cerium dioxide thin films un der different deposition conditions. (C) 1997 American Vacuum Society.