ELEMENTAL COMPOSITION AND STRUCTURAL-PROPERTIES OF THIN RF-SPUTTERED TA2O5 LAYERS

AES and XPS have been used for investigation of the elemental composit ion and the chemical bonding in rf sputtered tantalum oxide (4-75 nm) on Si, depending on gas mixture (O-2 content in the gas 0.2-50%) at tw o substrate temperatures. The effect of post deposition anneal in dry O-2 has also been considered. The results indicate that 10% O-2 conten t and substrate temperature 300 K favour formation of stoichiometric T a2O5 and an abrupt interface transition region between Si and Ta2O5. T he annealing leads to homogenization of the layers and improves additi onally their stoichiometry.