Optical Properties of Amorphous AlN Thin Films on Glass and Silicon Substrates Grown by Single Ion Beam Sputtering

The structural and optical properties of aluminum nitride (AlN) films deposited on glass and silicon substrates by single ion beam sputtering technique have been investigated. The X-ray diffraction and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) study revealed the formation of the amorphous phase of AlN. The optical characteristics of films, such as refractive index, extinction coefficient, and average thickness, were calculated by Swanepoel's method using transmittance measurements. The refractive index and average roughness values of the films increased with film thickness. Moreover, it was found that thickness augmentation leads to a decrease in optical band gap energy calculated using Tauc's relation. (C) 2010 The Japan Society of Applied Physics