Deposition of AlGaN thin film using HIPIMS and RF co-sputtering technique

HIPIMS which is known by high-power impulse magnetron sputtering is an advanced thin film fabrication technique used in materials science and semiconductor industries. In HIPIMS, a high voltage pulse is applied to a sputter target, creating a high-density plasma composed of metal ions and electrons. This intense plasma bombardment results in highly efficient sputtering of the target material, allowing for precise and uniform deposition of thin films onto substrates. In this study, aluminium gallium nitride thin films were fabricated using low N2/(Ar+ N2)% ratio of gas flow. Then through the analysis using field-emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and atomic force microscopy (AFM), the surface morphologies of aluminium gallium nitride (AlGaN) film were studied at various nitrogen (N2) flow rates. XRD results show that AlGaN films deposited exhibit polycrystalline and Al structure depending on the composition of N2 flow. The the AlGaN films surface roughness were smooth and had lower roughness at N2 flow rates concentration of 10 to 50%. At 50% of N2 flow rates, the surface morphology of AlGaN films deposited was uniform and the grain size was small. Results indicated that low ratio of N2 flow by using the HIPIMS technique provides a significant effect on AlGaN thin films deposition.