Journal of Materials Research
Based on the best bulk metallic glass (BMG) forming alloy in the Mg-Cu-Y ternary system, we introduced Ag (or Ni) to partially substitute for Cu to improve the glass-forming ability (GFA). The objective of this paper is twofold. First, we illustrate in detail a recently developed search strategy, which was proposed but only briefly outlined in our previous publication [H. Ma, L.L. Shi, J. Xu, Y. Li, and E. Ma: Discovering inch-diameter metallic glasses in three-dimensional composition space. Appl. Phys. Lett. 87, 181915 (2005)]. The protocol to navigate in three-dimensional composition space to land large BMGs is spelled out step-by-step using the pseudo-ternary Mg-(Cu,Ag)-Y as the model system. Second, our ability to locate the best BMG former in the composition tetrahedron allows us to systematically examine, and conclude on, the effects of a given alloying element. The large improvement in glass-forming ability in the Mg-(Cu,Ag)-Y system relative to the based ternary will be contrasted with the reduced glass-forming ability in the Mg-(Cu,Ni)-Y pseudo ternary system. It is demonstrated that the improvement of glass-forming ability requires judicious choice of substitutional alloying elements and concentrations, rather than simple additions of multiple elements assuming the "confusion principle."
关键词:
bulk metallic-glass;shaped copper mold;amorphous-alloys;thermal-stability;ternary-system;casting method;p system;diameter;zr;mm
金属学报(英文版)
粒裕希停桑谩。疲希遥茫拧。停桑茫遥希樱茫希校佟。希拢樱牛遥郑粒裕桑希巍。希啤。停粒牵危牛裕遥希巍。樱校眨裕裕牛遥牛摹。粒蹋眨停桑危眨停樱桑蹋桑茫希巍。粒蹋蹋希佟。疲桑蹋停?##2##3##4##5ATOMICFORCEMICROSCOPYOBSERVATIONOFMAGNETRONSPUTTEREDALUMINUM-SILICONALLOYFILMSJ.W.Wu,J.H.FangandZ.H.Lu(NationalLaboratoryofMoleculeandBiomoleculeElectronics,SoutheastUniversity,Nanjing210096,ChinaManuscriptreceived27October1995)Abstrcat:Twodifferentsurfacemorphologycharacteristicsofmagnetronsputteredaluminumsilicon(Al-Si)alloyfilmsdepositedat0and200℃wereobservedbyatomicforcemicroscopy(AFM).Oneisirregularlyshapedgrainsputtogtheronaplane.TheotherisirregularlyshapedgrainsPiledupinspace.Nanometer-sizedparticleswithheightsfrom1.6to2.9nmwerefirstobserved.Onthebasisoftheseobservationsthegrowthmechanismofmagnetronsputteredfilmsisdiscussed.Keywords:magnetronsputtering,Al-Sialloy,surfacemorphology,atomicforcemicroscopy,filmgrowthmechanism1.IntroductionTheuseofaluminumalloys[1,2],inparticularAl-Si,isacommonfeatureinmanysinglelevelandmultilevelinterconnectionschemesadoptedinthemanufactureofmicroelectronicdevicesbecauseofseveraldesirableproperties.TheAl-Sigrainmorphology(size.geometryanddistributionofgrainsisassociatedwithstepcoverage[3],electromigration[4]andinterconnectsresistivity[5]etc..Thus,characterizationofAl-Sialloysurfacemorphologyisveryimportant,especiallywhenintegratedintensityincreasesandlinewidthsof0.3to0.5μmbecomecommon.Inthepasttwentyyears,theAl-Sialloysurfacemorphologywhichaffectsthereliabilityofmicroelectronicdeviceshasbeenwidelyinvestigatedbyscanningelectronmicroscopy(SEM),transmissionelectronmicroscopy(TEM)etc.[5-7].However,SEMandTEMhavetheirlimitationorinconvenience,forexample,theverticalresolutionofSEMisnothighandTEMneedscomplexsamplepreparation.Recently,anewgrainboundaryetchingmethodwasproposed￣[8]whichalsoneedstroublesomechemicaletching.Atomicforcemicroscopy(AFM),sinceitsemerging,hasbecomemoreandmoreusefulinphysics,chemistry,materialsscienceandsurfacescience,becauseofitshighresolution,easeofsamplepreparationandrealsurfacetopography.Recently,discussion[9,10]waspresentedonhowAFMwillplayaroleinsemiconductorindustry.Asaresponsetothisdiscussion,weusedAFMtoinvestigateAl-SialloysurfacemorphologyandhaveobtainedsomeresultswhichcannotberevealedbySEMorTEM.ThisindicatesthatAFMisagoodcharacterizationtoolinsemiconductorindustry.2.SamplePreparationInourexperiments,aluminumwith30ppmsiliconwassputteredonsiliconsubstrateinbatchdepositionmodeAllthreefilmswiththicknessof1.6μmweredepositedusinganargonsputteringpressureof4.2×10￣-3Pa.TheotherdepositionparametersaredescribedinTable1.Thesubstratewascleanedusingstandardpremetallizationcleaningtechniquespriortofilmdeposition.3.ExperimentalResultsandDiscussionTheAFMmeasurementswereperformedonacommercialsystem(NanoscopeIII,DigitalInstruments,SantaBarbara).Thetipismadeofmicrofabricatedsiliconnitride(Si_3N_4)Itisattachedtoa200μmcantileverwithaforceconstantofabout0.12N/m.Beforethesurfaceofsamplewasexamined.agoodtipwithananometer-sizedprotrusionatitsendwasselectedbeforehand,whichcanbeobtainedbyimagingtheatomicstructureofmicasubstrateandagoldgrid.AtypicaloperatingforcebetweenthetipandAl-Sisamplesurfaceisoftheorderof10￣-8Nandallimagesweretakenatroomtemperatureinair.AtypicaltopographicviewoftheAl-SifilmsisshowninFig.1(allimagescansizeis5by5μma,bandcarerespectivelyforsample1,2,and3).FromFig.la,itcanbeseenthatirregularlyshapedgrainstiltinginvaryingdegreespileupinspace,andgroovesamongtheirregularlyshapedgrainsaredifficulttodecideatacertainarea(wedefineitascharacteristicA).Toourknowledge,onreportsonthesurfacemorphologyhavebeenpresentedbefore.InFig1b,however,irregularlyshapedgrainsassembleonaPlaneandgroovesamongtheirregularlyshapedgrainsareeasytodecide(wedefineitascharacteristicB),whichisinagreementwithmanypreviousreports[5-7].InFig.1c,bothcharacteristicA(arrowA)andcharacteristicB(arrowB)wereobserved.IndoingAFMexperiments,weselectedfivedifferentscanareastobeimagedforeachsampleandfoundthatallimagesofeachsamplearerespectivelysimilartoFig.1a,bandc.Also,wenotedthatthesurfaceofinFig.1a.WethinkthatdepositionparameterswillinfluenceAl-Sisurfacemorphology,andthetiltedgrainsmaybesusceptibletomicrocracking.Byreducingthescansizeareato2by2μm(Fig.2aandb).Weobtainedmanyidenticalresultsasdescribedabove,suchasirregularlyshapedgrainsetc.Forthefirsttime,wefoundnanometersizedparticlesonirregularlyshapedgrainsurfacewhichcannotberevealedbySEMbecausethediameterofthesenanoparticlesisabout10nmandtheheightofthesenanoparticlesisintherangeof1.6to2.9nm.Inimaging,wenotedthatrotatingthescandirectionandchangingthescanfrequencydidnotaffectthestructureofthesegrainsasshowninFig.2aandb,rulingoutthepossibilitythatscanninginfluencedtheshapeoftheseparticlesorcausedsomesimilarimagingartifacts.Also,wenotedthatthenanoparticleswerenotobservedontheslopesofthegrooves(Fig.2aandb).Thisphenomenoncanbeexplainedasfollows:thepotentialenergyattheslopeislargerthanthatelsewhere,sotheparticlesseemmorelikelytobedepositedontheseareaswithlowerpotentialenergy.Fig.2c,scansize250by250nm,isazoomtopographicimage(whiteoutlineinb).Itshowsunevendistributionofthenanoparticles.Andtheheightdifferenceofthenanoparticlesindicatesdifferentgrowingspeed.Wethinkbasedonthemorphologyofnanoparticles,thattheheightdifferenceandunevendistributionofthesenanoparticlesshowdifferentgrowingadvantageandindicatethatatomshaveenoughenergytomovetoasuitablegrowingspot.Theenergymaybefromthefollowingsources:surfacetemperaturefluctuation,stressdifferenceorcollisionbetweenhighspeedsputteredatoms.Thesenanoparticlesgoongrowingandformmanyirregularlyshapedgrains.AndtheseirregularlyshapedgrainsfurtherconnecteachotheraccordingtocharacteristicAorB,finallyformingtheAl-Sisurfacemorphology.4.ConclusionWecandrawthefollowingconclusionsfromtheabove.First,theexperimentalresultsshowedthatAFMisapowerfultooltoinvestigatethedetailsofAl-Sisurfacemorphologywhichcangreatlyenrichourknowledgeofthefilmgrowthmechanism.Second,depositionconditionsplayanimportantroleindeterminingtheAl-Sisurfacemorphology.Third,thetwoAl-Sisurfacemorphologycharacteristicsarethatirregularlyshapedgrainsassembleonaplaneandirregularlyshapedgrainstiltinginvaryingdegreespileupinspace.Fourth,forthefirsttime,nanoparticleswereobservedonirregularlyshapedgrainsurfacewhichsuggestedthatthefilmgrowthmechanismwasbyinhomogeneousnucleation.Acknowledgements-BeneficialdiscussionswereheldwithDr.ZhenandMr.Zhu.ThisworkwaspartiallysupportedbytheNationalNaturalScienceFoundationofChina.RFFERENCES｜｜1D.pramanikandA.N.Saxena,SolidStateTechnol.26(1983)127.2D.pramanikandA.N.Saxena,SolidStateTechnol.26(1983)131.3D.pramanikandA.N.Saxena,SolidStateTechnol.33(1990)73.4S.S.IyerandC.Y.Worg,J.Appl.phys.57(1985)4594.5J.F.Smith,SolidStateTechnol.27(1984)135.6D.GerthandD.Katzer,ThinSolidFilm208(1992)67.7R.J.WilsonandB.L.Weiss,ThinSolidFilm207(1991)291.8E.G.Solley,J.H.Linn,R.W.BelcherandM.G.Shlepr,SolidStateTechnol33(1990)409I.SmithandRHowland,SolidStateTechnol.33(1990)53.10L.Peters,SemiconductorInternational16(1993)62.##61D.pramanikandA.N.Saxena,SolidStateTechnol.26(1983)127.2D.pramanikandA.N.Saxena,SolidStateTechnol.26(1983)131.3D.pramanikandA.N.Saxena,SolidStateTechnol.33(1990)73.4S.S.IyerandC.Y.Worg,J.Appl.phys.57(1985)4594.5J.F.Smith,SolidStateTechnol.27(1984)135.6D.GerthandD.Katzer,ThinSolidFilm208(1992)67.7R.J.WilsonandB.L.Weiss,ThinSolidFilm207(1991)291.8E.G.Solley,J.H.Linn,R.W.BelcherandM.G.Shlepr,SolidStateTechnol33(1990)409I.SmithandRHowland,SolidStateTechnol.33(1990)53.10L.Peters,SemiconductorInternational16(1993)62.##A##BATOMIC FORCE MICROSCOPY OBSERVATION OF MAGNETRON SPUTTERED ALUMINUM-SILICON ALLOY FILMS$$$$J.W.Wu,J.H. Fang and Z.H.Lu (National Laboratory of Molecule and Biomolecule Electronics,Southeast University,Nanjing 210096, China Manuscript received 27 October 1995)Abstrcat:Two different surface morphology characteristics of magnetron sputtered aluminumsilicon(Al-Si)alloy films deposited at 0 and 200℃ were observed by atomic force microscopy(AFM).One is irregularly shaped grains put togther on a plane.The other is irregularly shaped grains Piled up in space. Nanometer-sized particles with heights from 1.6 to 2.9 nm were first observed. On the basis of these observations the growth mechanism of magnetron sputtered films is discussed.
关键词:
:magnetron sputtering
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