Sputtering of aluminium nitride (002) film on cubic silicon carbide on silicon (100) substrate: influences of substrate temperature and deposition power

We perform pulsed DC sputtering of aluminium nitride (002) thin films on top of cubic silicon carbide-on-silicon (100) substrates at different substrate temperatures and deposition powers. The films are characterized using the following parameters: FWHM of diffraction peak, FWHM of the rocking curve, residual stress, thickness, deposition rate, grain size, and surface roughness. The overall quality of the films improve at escalated temperature and power. However, they have hillocks on the surface, which is caused by high amount of tensile stress.