No Arabic abstract
Ordered arrays of magnetic nanowires are commonly synthesized by electrodeposition in nanoporous alumina templates. Due to their dense packing, strong magnetostatic interactions prevent the manipulation of wires individually. Using atomic layer deposition we reduce the diameter of the pores prior to electrodeposition. This reduces magnetostatic interactions, yielding fully remanent hysteresis loops. This is a first step towards the use of such arrays for magnetic racetrack memories.
In this study, the characteristics of nickel thin film deposited by remote plasma atomic layer deposition (RPALD) on p-type Si substrate and formation of nickel silicide using rapid thermal annealing were determined. Bis(1,4-di-isopropyl-1,3-diazabutadienyl)nickel, Ni(iPr-DAD)2, was used as a Ni precursor and ammonia plasma was used as a reactant. This was the first attempt to deposit Ni thin film using Ni(iPr-DAD)2 as a precursor for the ALD process. The RPALD Ni film was deposited with a growth rate of around 2.2{AA}/cycle at 250 {deg}C and showed significant low resistivity of 33 {mu}{Omega}cm with a total impurity concentration of around 10 at. %.The impurities of the thin film, carbon and nitrogen, were existent by the forms of C-C and C-N in a bonding state. The impurities removal tendency was investigated by comparing of experimental conditions, namely process temperature and pressure. Nitrogen impurity was removed by thermal desorption during each ALD cycle and carbon impurity was reduced by the optimizing of the process pressure which is directly related with a mean free path of NH3 plasma. After Ni deposition, nickel silicide was formed by RTA in a vacuum ambient for 1 minute. A nickel silicide layer from ALD Ni and PVD Ni was compared at the annealing temperature from 500 to 900 {deg}C. NiSi from ALD Ni showed better thermal stability due to the contribution of small amounts of carbon and nitrogen in the asdeposited Ni thin film. Degradation of the silicide layer was effectively suppressed with a use of ALD Ni.
We studied the dynamic magnetic properties of plane periodical arrays of circular permalloy nano-dots fabricated using a self-organized mask formed by polysterene nanospheres on the surface of a Permalloy film. Conventional (microwave cavity) and broadband coplanar-line ferromagnetic resonance setups were used for the measurements. We found several well resolved resonance peaks. This result shows that the self-organized mask fabrication technique is able to produce high-quality samples with small dispersion of geometrical and magnetic parameters.
Atomic layer deposition was used to synthesize niobium silicide (NbSi) films with a 1:1 stoichiometry, using NbF5 and Si2H6 as precursors. The growth mechanism at 200oC was examined by in-situ quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) and quadrupole mass spectrometer (QMS). This study revealed a self-limiting reaction with a growth rate of 4.5 {AA}/cycle. NbSi was found to grow only on oxide-free films prepared using halogenated precursors. The electronic properties, growth rate, chemical composition, and structure of the films were studied over the deposition temperature range 150-400oC. For all temperatures, the films are found to be stoichiometric NbSi (1:1) with no detectable fluorine impurities, amorphous with a density of 6.65g/cm3, and metallic with a resistivity {rho}=150 {mu}{Omega}.cm at 300K for films thicker than 35 nm. The growth rate was nearly constant for deposition temperatures between 150-275oC, but increases above 300oC suggesting the onset of non-self limiting growth. The electronic properties of the films were measured down to 1.2K and revealed a superconducting transition at Tc=3.1K. To our knowledge, a superconducting niobium silicide film with a 1:1 stoichiometry has never been grown before by any technique.
Despite its interest for CMOS applications, Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) of GeO$_{2}$ thin films, by itself or in combination with SiO$_{2}$, has not been widely investigated yet. Here we report the ALD growth of SiO$_{2}$/GeO$_{2}$ multilayers on Silicon substrates using a so far unreported Ge precursor. The characterization of multilayers with various periodicities reveals successful layer-by-layer growth with electron density contrast and absence of chemical intermixing, down to a periodicity of 2 atomic layers.
Heteroepitaxial growth of selected group IV-VI nitrides on various orientations of sapphire (alpha-Al2O3) is demonstrated using atomic layer deposition. High quality, epitaxial films are produced at significantly lower temperatures than required by conventional deposition methods. Characterization of electrical and superconducting properties of epitaxial films reveals a reduced room temperature resistivity and increased residual resistance ratio (RRR) for films deposited on sapphire compared to polycrystalline samples deposited concurrently on fused quartz substrates.