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Effect of deposition pressure on the microstructure and thermoelectric properties of epitaxial ScN(001) thin films sputtered onto MgO(001) substrates

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 February 2015

Polina V. Burmistrova ,
Dmitri N. Zakharov ,
Tela Favaloro ,
Amr Mohammed ,
Eric A. Stach ,
Ali Shakouri  and
Timothy D. Sands
Polina V. Burmistrova*
Affiliation:
School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907, USA; and Birck Nanotechnology Center, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907, USA
Dmitri N. Zakharov
Affiliation:
Birck Nanotechnology Center, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907, USA; and Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, New York 11974, USA
Tela Favaloro
Affiliation:
School of Engineering, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, California 95064, USA
Amr Mohammed
Affiliation:
School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907, USA; and Birck Nanotechnology Center, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907, USA
Eric A. Stach
Affiliation:
Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, New York 11974, USA
Ali Shakouri
Affiliation:
School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907, USA; Birck Nanotechnology Center, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907, USA; and School of Engineering, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, California 95064, USA
Timothy D. Sands
Affiliation:
School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907, USA; School of Materials Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907, USA; and Birck Nanotechnology Center, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907, USA
*
a)Address all correspondence to this author. e-mail: [email protected]
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Abstract

Four epitaxial ScN(001) thin films were successfully deposited on MgO(001) substrates by dc reactive magnetron sputtering at 2, 5, 10, and 20 mTorr in an Ar/N2 ambient atmosphere at 650 °C. The microstructure of the resultant films was analyzed by x-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy. Electrical resistivity, electron mobility and concentration were measured using the room temperature Hall technique, and temperature dependent in-plain measurements of the thermoelectric properties of the ScN thin films were performed. The surface morphology and film crystallinity significantly degrade with increasing deposition pressure. The ScN thin film deposited at 20 mTorr exhibits the presence of <221> oriented secondary grains resulting in decreased electric properties and a low thermoelectric power factor of 0.5 W/mK2 at 800 K. The ScN thin films grown at 5 and 10 mTorr are single crystalline, yielding the power factor of approximately 2.5 W/mK2 at 800 K. The deposition performed at 2 mTorr produces the highest quality ScN thin film with the electron mobility of 98 cm2 V−1 s−1 and the power factor of 3.3 W/mK2 at 800 K.

Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Materials Research , Volume 30 , Issue 5 , 14 March 2015 , pp. 626 - 634
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2015 

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References

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