Effects of substrate preparation on the stress of Nb thin films

Author

Bass, Robert B. ; Lichtenberger, Lydia T. ; Lichtenberger, Arthur W.

Author_Institution

Dept. of Electr. Eng., Univ. of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, USA

Volume

13

Issue

2

fYear

2003

fDate

6/1/2003 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

3298

Lastpage

3300

Abstract

It is well known that intrinsic stress plays an important role in the superconducting material properties of niobium (Nb) thin films and in the resulting electrical characteristics of superconducting-insulating-superconducting (SIS) junctions made from these films. The role of sputtering pressure, gun operating parameters and substrate fixturing on Nb film stress has been investigated by a number of researchers. In this paper we discuss the role of wafer preparation on the stress of Nb thin films. We have found that ex-situ substrate cleaning and baking as well as in-situ cleaning and deposition sequencing have a significant effect on the resulting measured film stress.

Keywords

internal stresses; niobium; sputtered coatings; substrates; superconducting thin films; surface cleaning; Nb; SIS junction; baking process; cleaning process; deposition sequencing; electrical characteristics; intrinsic stress; niobium thin film; sputter deposition; substrate preparation; superconducting material; Cleaning; Electric variables; Niobium; Sputtering; Stress; Substrates; Superconducting films; Superconducting materials; Superconducting thin films; Transistors;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Applied Superconductivity, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

1051-8223

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/TASC.2003.812294

Filename

1212331