STUDIES OF MULTICOMPONENT OXIDE-FILMS AND LAYERED HETEROSTRUCTURE GROWTH-PROCESSES VIA IN-SITU, TIME-OF-FLIGHT ION-SCATTERING AND DIRECT RECOIL SPECTROSCOPY

The understanding of film growth processes is critical for fabricating a variety of thin film-based devices. Many novel film-based devices r equire growth of films in background gas atmospheres such as oxygen an d nitrogen for oxide or nitride films. The studies of film growth proc esses in background gas environments require special analytical techni ques. We discuss a novel time-of-flight ion scattering and direct reco il spectroscopy (TOF-ISARS) technique developed in our laboratory that is capable of providing a wide range of information including film co mposition and surface structure during growth, at the atomic scale. We also discuss recent work focused on the growth of ferroelectric thin films and their integration with electrode layers relevant to the fabr ication of ferroelectric capacitors.