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SCANNING PROBE MICROSCOPE OXIDATION AND HIGH-VOLTAGE PARALLEL WRITING ON METAL AND METAL NITRIDE THIN FILMS

Farkas, Natalia
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=akron1152948068

Abstract Details

2006, Doctor of Philosophy, University of Akron, Chemistry.
Systematic investigation of the scanning probe microscope (SPM) oxidation of transition metal and metal nitride thin films is presented. An extensive range of process and material specific parameters such as exposure time, voltage, humidity and nitrogen content of the sputtering plasma are investigated. During the intrinsic part of the SPM oxidation of ZrN, the density of the oxide increases until the total oxide thickness is approximately twice the feature height. Further oxide growth is sustainable, and in fact faster yet controlled, as the system crosses over from the space charge limited to a nitrogen-enhanced growth regime. Selective etching of the oxides and nitrides lead us to propose that as the oxidation reaches the ZrN/silicon interface delamination occurs resulting in hollow oxide feature formation through stress-induced plastic flow. Interpretations of the underlying processes and film properties responsible for the unique behavior of ZrN in all regimes are provided along with an explanation for the observed non-linear voltage dependence. To our knowledge, manifestation of three distinct transition points in SPM oxidation kinetics has never been reported. In addition, we exploit the nitrogen-enhanced growth of ZrN to fabricate high-voltage parallel oxide patterns 70 nm in height covering areas in the square centimeter range. The nitrogen-to-oxygen conversion is verified by Auger microprobe analysis. To show the versatility of the inherently simple high-voltage parallel writing technique, we demonstrate pattern transfer onto 15-100 nm thick FeN films. As opposed to ZrN, the iron oxide dissolves during the process fully exposing the substrate beneath and therefore eliminating the need for any post-exposure etching. This comparison is of fundamental interest in that Zr oxidation is driven by oxygen migration, whereas Fe oxidizes by metal ion transport. Implication of the use of patterned ZrN and FeN thin films for biomedical and magnetic applications are also discussed. In particular, with precisely controlled height and methodically designed lateral size, the synthetic FeN arrays are potential candidates for MRI sensitivity and resolution measurements.
Rex Ramsier (Advisor)
ZrN; SPM; sccm; SPM oxidation; oxide feature; OXIDATION; oxide

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Farkas, N. (2006). SCANNING PROBE MICROSCOPE OXIDATION AND HIGH-VOLTAGE PARALLEL WRITING ON METAL AND METAL NITRIDE THIN FILMS [Doctoral dissertation, University of Akron]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=akron1152948068

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Farkas, Natalia. SCANNING PROBE MICROSCOPE OXIDATION AND HIGH-VOLTAGE PARALLEL WRITING ON METAL AND METAL NITRIDE THIN FILMS. 2006. University of Akron, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=akron1152948068.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Farkas, Natalia. "SCANNING PROBE MICROSCOPE OXIDATION AND HIGH-VOLTAGE PARALLEL WRITING ON METAL AND METAL NITRIDE THIN FILMS." Doctoral dissertation, University of Akron, 2006. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=akron1152948068

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

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© 2006, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by University of Akron and OhioLINK.