Atomic Layer Deposition of Al2O3 onto Sn-Doped In2O3: Absence of Self-Limited Adsorption during Initial Growth by Oxygen Diffusion from the Substrate and Band Offset Modification by Fermi Level Pinning in Al2O3
Citations Over TimeTop 19% of 2012 papers
Abstract
The growth of Al2O3 onto Sn-doped In2O3 (ITO) by atomic layer deposition (ALD) was studied in situ using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Significant diffusion of oxygen from the substrate destroys the self-terminated monolayer adsorption of the metal precursor and results in a nominal initial growth per cycle of >1 nm. The observed mechanism precludes the preparation of monolayer thick Al2O3 films on ITO substrates by ALD. The energy band alignment at the ITO/Al2O3 interface is significantly different from that obtained when magnetron sputtering is used for the deposition of Al2O3 onto ITO [Gassenbauer et al., Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys.2009, 11, 3049]. The difference is attributed to a pinning of the Fermi level in the ALD-Al2O3 layer close to midgap, which is attributed to the incorporation of hydrogen in the film during growth.
Related Papers
- → Spatial atomic layer deposition: A route towards further industrialization of atomic layer deposition(2011)373 cited
- → Characteristics and applications of plasma enhanced-atomic layer deposition(2011)103 cited
- → Atomic Layer Deposition Beyond Thin Film Deposition Technology(2022)59 cited
- → ALD: Atomic Layer Deposition – Precise and Conformal Coating for Better Performance(2014)14 cited
- → Application of atomic layer deposition in nanophotonics(2014)2 cited