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Fe-Ni-N films were prepared on glass substrates by dual ion beam sputtering. The effect of nickel (Ni) addition on the structure, magnetic properties, and thermal stability of Fe-N films was investigated. In the γ'-(Fe,Ni)[sub 4]N phase, the addition of Ni influences the growth, nitrogen content, and the preferred orientation of the film. The (200) plane of the γ'-phase in the Fe-Ni-N films grows dominantly parallel to the substrate plane with increasing Ni content, indicating the possibility of controlling the crystal orientation. A single γ'-(Fe,Ni)[sub 4]N phase film with all grains oriented in the (200) direction was actually grown for a Ni content of 21.2 at. %. The coercivity H[sub C] of Ni-containing films was lower than that of the Ni-free films. The film with Ni content of 6.7 at. % showed good soft magnetic properties, with H[sub C] = 0.68 kA/m and M[sub S] = 2.04 T. The thermal stability, however, was weakened due to the existence of Ni in the Fe-N films. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Plasma treatment of HfO2 films by octafluorocyclobutane (C4F8) 60 MHz(HF)/2 MHz(LF) dual-frequency capacitively coupled plasmas (DF-CCPs) was investigated. It is found that the fluorine atoms were incorporated into the HfO2 films by C4F8 DF-CCP treatment, but the C : F films were formed on the surface of the HfO2/Si gate stacks. The results also show that both the plasma treatment and the process of post-deposition annealing play major roles in stabilizing the tetragonal structure, leading to a large band gap and good electrical properties. The formation of t-HfO2 is related to oxygen vacancy generation and Si diffusion into the HfO2 films. The capacitance–voltage measurement showed that the smallest ΔVfb and the lowest interface trap density were obtained at the HF power of 120 W and the LF power of 30 W. Therefore, the C4F8 DF-CCP is a suitable method to improve the electrical characteristics of HfO2/Si gate stacks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Zn1-xCrxO(x = 0, 0.03, 0.09) films were prepared by the radio frequency (RF) magnetron sputtering technique on Si(111) and quartz glass substrates. The effects of Cr-doping on the structural and optical properties of ZnO films have been discussed. The structural properties were investigated using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscope (SEM) while optical properties using UV-Visible spectrophotometer (UV-VIS). XRD measurement revealed that the films were single phase and wurtzite structure with c-axis orientation. With the increase of Cr concentration, the intensity of the (002) peak and the grain size of the Zn1-xCrxO(x = 0, 0.03, 0.09) films decreased, and the Full Width at Half Maximum (FWHM) of (002) peak, the crystal lattice parameter c of Zn1-xCrxO(x = 0, 0.03, 0.09) films and the width of optical band gap increased, respectively. In the transmittance spectra of the Zn1-x CrxO(x = 0, 0.03, 0.09) films, the movement of the absorption edge of the ultraviolet region is the Burstein–Moss shift with the increase of Cr concentration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Silicon carbide (SiC) films were prepared by single and dual-ion-beam sputtering deposition at room temperature. An assisted Ar+ ion beam (ion energy Ei = 150 eV) was directed to bombard the substrate surface to be helpful for forming SiC films. The microstructure and optical properties of nonirradicated and assisted ion-beam irradicated films have been characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and Raman spectra. TEM result shows that the films are amorphous. The films exposed to a low-energy assisted ion-beam irradicated during sputtering from a-SiC target have exhibited smoother and compacter surface topography than which deposited with nonirradicated. The ion-beam irradicated improves the adhesion between film and substrate and releases the stress between film and substrate. With assisted ion-beam irradicated, the density of the Si-C bond in the film has increased. At the same time, the excess C atoms or the size of the sp2 bonded clusters reduces, and the a-Si phase decreases. These results indicate that the composition of the film is mainly Si-C bond. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]