Atomic layer deposition of hafnium and zirconium silicate thin films

The atomic layer deposition (ALD) technique has been used to deposit different types of hafnium and zirconium silicates. The technique allows controlling the material thickness and quality due to atomic/molecular layer-by-layer growth mechanism. The films were deposited on 200 mm Si(1 0 0) substrates. Both thickness and Hf/Si or Zr/Si ratio were varied. Rutherford backscattering spectrometry and time-of-flight elastic recoil detection analysis were used to determine film composition and impurities distribution. Thickness and refractive index of the coatings were measured by spectroscopic ellipsometry. Our measurements showed the presence of photoluminescence in the Hf-silicate films.