Ion-assisted pulsed laser deposition of aluminum nitride thin films

Aluminum nitride (AlN) thin films were deposited by nitrogen-ion-assisted p ulsed laser ablation of an AlN target. A KrF excimer laser with a pulse dur ation of 23 ns and a wavelength of 248 nm was used as a light source for th e ablation. A nitrogen ion beam with energies in a range of 200-800 eV is u sed to assist the deposition. The nitrogen ion implantation can compensate the possible loss of nitrogen species in the ablated plasma and can effecti vely assist the deposition by providing energetic nitrogen ions. Raman and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy measurements were used to character ize the deposited thin films. The influences of the substrate temperature a nd the ion energy on the electronic and structural properties of the deposi ted thin films were studied. (C) 2000 American Institute of Physics. [S0021 -8979(00)03203-5].