Room-temperature growth of ZrO2 thin films using a novel hyperthermal oxygen-atom source

Thin ZrO2 films have been grown on Si(100) and on glassy carbon substrates using a novel atomic oxygen source in a standard molecular beam epitaxy sys tem. The oxygen source produces a Aux of hyperthermal oxygen atoms with an ion/atom-ratio much less than 0.001 through electron stimulated desorption from a Ag alloy surface at an operating pressure <10(-8) Torr. The films we re grown at room temperature and analyzed using Rutherford backscattering s pectroscopy, x-ray diffraction (XRD), x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The results show the successful gro wth of fully stoichiometric ZrO2 films on nonheated Si(100) and on amorphou s glassy carbon substrates at a rate of 0.58 mu m/hr. The XRD and TEM inves tigations indicate the formation of a mixed amorphous/orthorhombic film str ucture. Based on the film growth rate, the O flux produced by the electron stimulated desorption atom source is estimated to be 8 x 10(14) atoms/cm(2) s. This flux value is consistent with other determinations using ion scatte ring spectroscopy and pyromellitic dianhydride-oxydianiline polyimide (Kapt on (R)) erosion experiments. (C) 1999 American Vacuum Society. [S0734-2101( 99)04001-4] .