EFFECT OF EXTERNAL MAGNETIC-FIELD ON C-AXIS ORIENTATION AND RESIDUAL-STRESS IN ALN FILMS

Crystal orientation and residual stress development in AIN films on bo rosilicate glass (the thermal expansion coefficient of which is nearly equal to that of AlN) substrate were investigated by atomic force mic roscopy (AFM) observation and X-ray diffraction method. The AlN films were prepared by a planar magnetron sputtering system with two opposit e targets under the condition of constant nitrogen gas pressure, const ant substrate temperature, various deposition time and various externa l magnetic field (EM) between 63 and 128 gauss. We obtain the followin g results: (1) the size of crystal grains was large and the value of F WHM of 00.2 diffraction line was small at large EM; (2) the c-axis ori entation was good for all films; (3) the large tensile residual stress es were obtained at large EM and decreased with decreasing the EM beca use of ion peening. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved .