Reactive-sputter deposition, characterization and application of ruthenium oxide thin films

A key issue related to the applications of ruthenium oxide films is to employ pre-existing film deposition techniques and suitable processing conditions to grow device-quality films. This research focuses on the relationship between the film properties and processing parameters for reactive sputter deposition of ruthenium oxide films.;Chapter 1 summarized the fundamental properties of ruthenium oxide and its potential applications in microelectronics industry. This summary is only a glimpse of the vast literature on ruthenium oxide. Following this introduction, a discussion is given to the reactive sputtering deposition method in chapter 2. An overview of the process study of ruthenium oxide film deposition is also given in this chapter.;In chapter 3, the deposition process for ruthenium oxide film has been modeled and discussed using a model developed originally for TiN deposition. This modeling has identified clearly two characteristic processing states for the ruthenium oxide film deposition in our chamber, namely metallic target conditions and oxidized target conditions. The composition, microstructure and physical properties of ruthenium oxide films deposited under these two different conditions are fully explored with variant characterization techniques.;Chapter 4 established that the films deposited under metallic target conditions on sapphire had a stoichiometry of RuO;In chapter 5, the films deposited under oxidized target conditions are discussed. The composition of the film was RuO;In chapter 6, the(100)- and(101)-oriented RuO...