ContentslistsavailableatSciVerseScienceDirect
Applied
Surface
Science
j o ur na l ho me p age :w w w . e l s e v i e r . c o m / l o c a t e / a p s u s c
Nanoindentation
response
of
zinc
titanate
thin
films
deposited
by
co-sputtering
process
Shyh-Chi
Wu
a,b,
Yeau-Ren
Jeng
c,
Wei-Hung
Yau
d,
Kuan-Te
Wu
c,
Chien-Huang
Tsai
e,∗,
Chang-Pin
Chou
aaDepartmentofMechanicalEngineering,NationalChiaoTungUniversity,Hsinchu300,Taiwan,ROC bChungShanInstituteofScienceandTechnology(CSIST),Taoyuan325,Taiwan,ROC
cDepartmentofMechanicalEngineering,NationalChungChengUniversity,Chia-Yi621,Taiwan dDepartmentofMechanicalEngineering,Chin-YiUniversityofTechnology,Taichung400,Taiwan,ROC eDepartmentofAutomationEngineering,NanKaiUniversityofTechnology,Nantou54243,Taiwan,ROC
a
r
t
i
c
l
e
i
n
f
o
Articlehistory: Received4October2011
Receivedinrevisedform16February2012 Accepted16February2012
Available online 21 March 2012 Keywords:
Radiofrequencymagnetronco-sputtering Hardness
Atomicforcemicroscopy X-rayphotoelectronspectroscopy
a
b
s
t
r
a
c
t
Inthisstudy,ZnTiO3filmsweregrownbyradiofrequencymagnetronco-sputteringusingasintered
ceramictargetonsiliconsubstrates,weusednanoindentertechniquesunderaCSMmodetoevaluate
thehardness(H)andelasticmodulus(E)ofthefilmsafterannealingintemperaturerangeof520–820◦C.
ThemeasuredvaluesofhardnessandelasticmodulioftheZnTiO3filmswereintherangefrom8.5±0.4to
5.6±0.4GPaandfrom171±2.3to155±2.5GPa,respectively.Itisevidentthatanincreaseinthe
rough-nessduetohighannealingtemperatureusingatomicforcemicroscopy.TheXRDpatternswereobserved
thatas-depositedfilmsaremainlyamorphous,however,thehexagonalZnTiO3phasewasobservedwith
theZnTiO3(104),(110),(116),and(214)peaksfrom620to820◦C,indicatingthatthereishighly
(104)-orientedZnTiO3onthesiliconsubstrate.TheX-rayphotoelectronspectroscopycorelevel
analy-sisoftheZnTiO3filmshavebeenmeasuredforO1sthatcanbeattributedtheweakerbondsandlower
resistanceatthefilmbasedonthehigherannealedtemperature.TheH,M,Rms,andRawerealtereddue
tothegraingrowthandrecoverytoresultinarelaxcrystallinityatZnTiO3films.
© 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
1. Introduction
ZnO–TiO2systemisattractivebecauseoftheiroutstanding
per-formanceasaninorganiccompound.Aboveofthem,ZnTiO3film
wasfoundtobezincmetatitanatewithahexagonalstructureand
titaniumdioxidewhilethefilmofZn/Tiratioislowerthan1.The
zinctitanatephasesfoundinthefilmsdependprimarilyonthe
filmstoichiometry.The introductionof threecompounds
exist-ingintheZnO–TiO2systemhasbeenreportedinpreviousstudy
[1], suchas-Zn2TiO4 (cubic), ZnTiO3 (hexagonal),and Zn2Ti3O8
(cubic).Fundamentalstudiesisconcernedbecauseofitsdiverse
electricalandchemicalproperties,leadingtothecommercial
appli-cations,suchaswhitepigment,catalyticsorbent[2–4],microwave
dielectricmaterials[5–7],gassensor[8],andhighperformance
cat-alysts[9–11].Beside,theluminescentapplicationcouldbeinduced
by the ZnTiO3 doped with some transition metal ions [12,13].
ZnTiO3,preparationbysolidstatereaction,wasreportedbymeans
of sol–gel[12,14,15],bulk manufacture [16,7,17], and chemical
vapordeposition[18].However theirstudies arelimitedtothe
∗ Correspondingauthor.
E-mailaddress:[email protected](C.-H.Tsai).
analysesof phase, composition,and microstructure ofthefilm.
TherearefewreportsconcerningthenanohardnessofZnTiO3
sys-teminliteratures,excepttheseproperties–structures,grainsizes,
and morphologiesthatcanbeenhanced throughtheirextrinsic
properties.
Inthisstudy,theauthorshaveattemptedtosynthesizeZnTiO3
filmbyRFmagnetronco-sputteringprocess.Weemployed
nanoin-dentation techniques to discover the response of ZnTiO3 film;
their surface roughness, crystallization, and chemical bonding
wereanalyzedbyusingatomicforcemicroscopydiffraction,X-ray
diffraction,andX-rayphotoelectronspectroscopy.Thequalitiesof
theresultingZnTiO3films,intermsofphasepresentunder
anneal-ingtreatment,wereexamined.
2. Experimentaldetails
TheZnTiO3filmswerepreparedbyRFmagnetronco-sputtering
system using 4-inch-diameter sintered ceramic target (Zn and
Ti).In ordertoobtainstoichiometricdepositZnTiO3 filmsonSi
substrate,Ar–O2flow(8:2)withapurityof99.999gasof50sccm
wasintroducedintothechamberwithmassflowcontrollersand,
RFpowersat200Wwereused.Inaddition,thesputteringpressure
was2×10−2, thesubstratetemperature wassetat250◦C, and
0169-4332/$–seefrontmatter © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.apsusc.2012.02.076
Table1
RFsputterconditionsforthezinctitanatefilms.
Target ZnTiO3
Targetsizeindiameter(in.) 4
Targettosubstratedistance(mm) 90
RFpower(W) 200
Chamberpressure(Torr) 5×10−6
Workingpressure(Torr) 2×10−6
Sputteringgas Ar
Ar–O2flow(seem) 50(8:2)
Substratetemperature(◦C) 250
Depositiontime(min) 120
thedurationofthedepositionwas1h.Toremovethe
contami-nantsformedonthetargetsurfaceandtostabilizethesputtering
conditions,itwasnecessaryfor pre-sputteringtobeperformed
for5minpriortoeachdepositionprocess.Thosespecimenswere
subsequentlysubjectedtoexsituthermaltreatmentinafurnace
underN2 gasfor2hwithaheatingrateof5◦C/minat520,620,
720,and820◦C,respectively.Thedetaileddepositionconditions
oftheZnTiO3filmsarelistedinTable1.
After deposition, the surface roughness and microstructure
areanalyzedusingAFM(VeecoDimension5000,ScanningProbe
Microscopy,D5000).ThevaluesofHandMof theZnTiO3 films
were determined using a Nano Indenter XP instrument (MTS
Cooperation,NanoInstrumentsInnovationCenter,TN,USA).The
nanoindentationwasperformedusingadiamondBerkovich
inden-tertip(tipradius:ca.50nm);plasticdeformationwasgenerated
atverysmallloads.Thecontinuouscontactstiffnessmeasurement
(CSM)mode,whichisexecutedbysuperimposingsmall
oscilla-tionsontheforcesignaltomeasuredisplacementresponses,offers
adirectmeasurementofdynamiccontactstiffnessduringthe
load-ingprocessintheindentationtest[19].Chemicalbondingstates
andchemicalcompositionsofthefilmswereanalyzedbyX-ray
photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS, VG Scientific Microlab 310F).
Inductivelycoupledplasma-massICPspectrometerwasappliedto
determinetheelementsconcentrationsinthefilms,which
con-firmedthestoichiometryofZnTiO3.Crystallinityofthefilmswere
analyzedbyX-raydiffraction(PANalyticalX’PertPro(MRD),with
CuK␣(=0.154nm)radiationfor2from20◦to80◦atascanspeed
of2◦min−1,andagrazingangleof0.5◦under30kVand30mA.
3. Resultsanddiscussion
Fig.1showsAFMinspectionsofZnTiO3filmsdepositedwith
sil-iconsubstrate.ThesurfaceroughnessofZnTiO3filmsisincreased
from3,3,3.9,and5.8to20.6nmastheannealingtemperature
increasedfromRTto820◦C.Clearly,astheannealingtemperature
wasincreased,surfacemorphologiesofthesamplesbecamerough
andgrainsgrew.ThecorrespondingAFMobservationsdemonstrate
thattherearemanysmallcavitiesandbrightparticlesinthefilm
afterannealingtreatment,particularstartat620◦C.Fromprevious
articles[20–22],thesimilarphenomenonwasobservedthatthe
cavitiesareduetotheevaporationofZn,andthewhiteparticles
areTiO2.Furthermore,itappearsthatahighannealingtemperature
favorsaparticlewithlargergrainsizesat820◦Candmoredensely
thanthatoflowannealingtemperatures.Theexperimentsclearly
demonstratedthatthecrystallinestructureandsurfaceroughness
ofZnTiO3filmcanbeclearlychanged.Itsuggeststhatahigh
anneal-ingtemperatureenhancedtheatomicmobilityandcausedthegrain
recoverytoresultinarelaxcrystallinity.Thesubsequentresultsof
XRDwillbediscussedaswell.
Tostudy thenanomechanical properties of theZnTiO3 film,
nanoindentationwasemployedtomeasurethevaluesofHandE
uponvaryingconditions.Fig.2(a)and(b)displaythevariationin
nanohardnessH(GPa)andYoung’smodulusE(GPa)withrespect
totheZnTiO3film.ItisdeterminedthatthevaluesofHandEof
theZnTiO3 filmwithrespecttotheindentationdepth,following
themethodproposedbyOliverand Pharr[20]. Forindentation
depthsupto5nm,thevaluesofHincreaseduponincreasingthe
indentationdepth;thiscanbeattributedtothetransitionbetween
purelyelasticand elastoplasticcontact, whereas thevalueofH
isactuallyequaltothecontactpressure[16].Whilethe
indenta-tiondepthsover50nm,theHtendstoconstant.Werespectthat
astrengtheningeffectisdominatedfromthestrainorstrainrate
hardening.The HandEwerecalculated byaveraging
measure-mentsatindentationdepthsrangingfrom80to180nm.Thedepths
ofthefilmthicknessnotexceeding20%thatcanbeattributedto
accessafullyplasticzoneandtoavoidthesubstrateeffect[19].
ForthermaltreatmentatRT,520,620,720, and820◦C,the
val-uesofHoftheZnTiO3 filmwere8.5±0.4,11.4±0.4,10.5±0.4,
9.6±0.5, and 5.6±0.4GPa, respectively, while those of Ewere
171±2.3,178±2.4,202±3.5,198±3.2,and155±2.5GPa,
respec-tively. Markedly, in metal oxides the intrinsic defects such as
oxygenvacanciesandmetalioninterstitialsusuallycoexist.We
concludethatthelowervaluesofHandEoftheZnTiO3filmcanbe
inducedbysomereason,includingthepackingfactor,
stoichiom-etry,residualstress,preferredorientation,andgrainsize[23].A
lowvalueofRmsisbeneficialtoaZnTiO3filmbecauseitcanbe
usedtoprovideinformationregardingitsmorphology;thesurfaces
morphologiesofourfilmswererelativelyroughandnon-uniformly
distributed.Inaddition,thegrainsizeintheZnTiO3filmincreases
obviouslywhenannealingtemperatureishigher,casingmanygaps
betweengrainboundariesduetotheabnormalgraingrowth.We
indicatethatthestructureofZnTiO3 filmschangeswith
anneal-ingatmosphere,whichinducesthevariationoftheconcentration
ofintrinsicdefects.Fig.2(c)presentstheload/displacementP–h
curverecordedduringtheindentationprocess;itreacheda
maxi-mumindentationloadof9mN.Weobtaineddiscordantcurvesand
irregularitiesappearedinthecourseofplasticdeformation,which
ischaracterizedbythecontinuitiesatpenetrationdepths,forthe
typicalloading/unloadingprocess.Itis suggestedthatthecurve
impliesatrendofgradualelasticdeformation.Wealsoobserved
a larger deviation in the P–h curves of the ZnTiO3 films that
hadbeensubjectedtovariousloading/unloading.Nanoindentation
resultrevealsavariationofcompressivestresstransitionaround
theindentationregionsoftheZnTiO3films.Theinitial
deforma-tion,elasticdeformation,andresidualdeformationoftheZnTiO3
filmswereevaluatedbasedonthethermaltreatment.Theelastic
modulusisafundamentalpropertythatisinfluencedbybonding
betweenatoms.Thestiffnessorelasticmodulusofafilmdepends
upontheinteratomicdistances[23–25].
TheconstituentelementsoftheZnTiO3filmsweremeasured.
Thechemicalcompositionsofthefilmsdepositedatvarious
anneal-ingtemperaturewereshowninFig.3.Jungetal.[28]conductedthat
amainphaseZnTiO3intoZn2TiO4andTiO2occurredinassociation
withtheincreaseofannealingtemperature.Fromearlierreports
[27,28],theceramicpowder reactioncanbe displayedthatthe
ZnTiO3phasedecomposedtofromZn2TiO4andrutileTiO2above
945◦Cwithincreasingtheannealingtemperature.Thetrendofthe
increaseinoxygencontent(65–70%)issimilarinourresultswhile
Fig.2. (a)Hardness,(b)elasticmoduli,and(c)displacementsofloading–unloading curvesofZnTiO3filmssampleswithrespecttothevariationofannealingcondition:
Fig.3.ThestoichiometricchangeofZnTiO3 thinfilmstreatedbyconventional
annealingcondition:RT,520,620,720,and820◦C.
chemicalcompositionsarechangedbasedonannealing
tempera-ture.Atthesametime,chemicalbondingstatesintheZnTiO3films
werecharacterizedbyXPSmeasurement,asshowninFig.4.The
XPSspectrahavebeenchangedcorrectedtotheadventitiousO1s.
ThebindingenergyoftheO1sstateislocatedfrom530to538eV,
whichdependedontheannealingtemperaturethatsplitsintheir
peaksundervariousgrowthproceduresofZnTiO3filmsareclearly
examined.OnecanobserveapartofO Znbondformation(binding
energyat529.4eVand531.5eV)attheannealingtemperaturefrom
RTto520◦Cthatthepeakpositionsareingoodagreementwiththe
Zn ObondandsomeTi Obond[1,29].Apparently,theannealing
temperaturefrom620to720◦Cisevidencethatthemains
chemi-calbondingmaybecoexistingasZn O(bindingenergyat531.5eV)
andTi O(bindingenergyat533and536eV).WecancompareO
1sstateatthe820◦C,thecurveissignificantshiftintootherzone
duetomorechemicalimpurityfromZn OandTi Obond.In
addi-tion,O1sstateattheRTto520◦C,thepeakat530.1eVmaybe
duetoZn Obondsandsignificantpeakat531.8eVisattributed
asMnCl2.Thebroadbindingenergyat532–534eVseeninO1s
spectrumisconsideredtobeduetoresidualoxygenatthefilm
sur-face,ofwhichthebindingenergyisreportedtobe532.8eV[29,30].
Phanietal.[31]hasdiscussedthatstoichiometricchangeofZnTiO3
thinfilmscouldbetreatedbyconventionalannealing.Theannealed
Fig.4. XPScorelevelspectra(O1s)ofZnTiO3filmsonSisubstratewithrespectto
thevariationofannealingcondition:RT,520,620,720,and820◦C.
Fig.5.X-raydiffractionpatternsoftheZnTiO3films(a)as-depositedatRT,and
differentthermaltemperatures(b)620and(c)820◦C.
filmshaveshownZnTiO3cubicphaseformationatandabove620◦C
substratetemperature.Thechemical532.0eVpeakforZnTiO3films
areattributedtoO HbondsduetoabsorbedH Omoleculesonthe
films.Inaddition,thepeakappearedat533.1eVhasbeenassigned
toO1sinSiO2thatpresentedonthesurfaceoftheannealedfilms
onSisubstrate.
InFig.5,theXRDpatternsoftheZnTiO3films:(a)as-deposited
andtheannealingtreatmentwas(b)620◦Cand(c)820◦C.Itwas
observedthattherewerenodiffractionpeaksintheXRDpattern
foras-depositedfilms(Fig.3(a)).Itissuggestedthatthefilm
struc-tureismainlyamorphous[16].Herein,astheannealingtreatment
samplewas620◦C,thehexagonalZnTiO3phasewasobservedwith
theZnTiO3(104),(110),(116),and(214)peaks(Fig.5(b)).The
intensitiesof the (104)peak was higherthan the otherpeaks
ofZnTiO3 filmsat820◦C, indicatingthatthere ishighly(10
4)-orientedZnTiO3onthesiliconsubstrate.Fromrecentreports[16],
thepreferredorientationtendstoreduceitsfreeenergytoreach
astablestate,thisisthesamecaseinourexperimentaldata.The
ZnTiO3 structureisalsocomparablewiththeXPSthatZn-Oand
Ti-Obindingenergyat533and536eVisstronglyastheannealing
treatmentsamplewas620◦C.However,thelowZn OandTi O
bindingenergyisdisplayedduetomorechemicalimpurityfrom
XPSanalysis;thustheZnTi(110)structurehasaweakdiffraction
peakintheXRDpatternatthe820◦C.Weattributedthatthe
hexag-onalZnTiO3decomposedintocubicZn2TiO4andTiO2(rutile),even
theZnTiO3 phaseremainedstableatthetemperaturesof820◦C
[34].
Table1liststhesummariesofH,M,Rms,andRa.ZnTiO3 films
oftenhavedifferentthermalproperties,resultinginstrainwhen
thefilmsareannealedunderelevatedtemperatures.Thecrystal
textureofZnTiO3filmscaninfluencetheirmechanicalproperties
atdifferentannealingtreatmentstage;thecomparisonofphase
transformationofZnTiO3filmswasperformedbyXRDpatternas
well.Graingrowthandstrainenergyareprocessedattheinner
filmthatcanoftenbeadominantfactor.Althoughweobtained
appropriateinformationfromXPSanalysis,thedeposition
condi-tionsaffectednotonlydependedonannealedtemperaturebutalso
theTi,Zn,andOcompositionsduringthegrowthbyRFmagnetron
Table2
ThesummariesofZnTiO3filmwithrespecttotheH,M,Rms,andRa.
ZnTiO3 Modulus(GPa) Hardness(GPa) Rms Ra
As-deposited 171±2.3 8.5±0.4 3 2.1
520◦C 178±2.4 11.4±0.4 3 2.2
620◦C 202±3.5 10.5±0.4 3.9 3.1
720◦C 198±3.2 9.6±0.5 5.8 4.6
co-sputteringprocess.Weattributedthatoxygenchemisorbswith
metalbondandcasesasurfacelayerofadsorbedoxygen(Table2).
4. Conclusion
We have characterized RF magnetron co-sputtering ZnTiO3
filmsusingAFMandnanoindentertechniques.Themeasured
val-uesofhardnessandelasticmoduliof theZnTiO3 filmswerein
the range from 8.5±0.4 to 5.6±0.4GPa and from171±2.3 to
155±2.5GPa,respectively. Slightoscillationsand discontinuous
phenomenaineachhardnesscurveduetotherelaxinginZnTiO3
structure.TheXRDpatternsoftheZnTiO3filmsobservedthatthere
werenodiffractionpeaksintheXRDpatternforas-depositedfilms
due to thefilm structure is mainlyamorphous. The hexagonal
ZnTiO3phasewasobservedwiththeZnTiO3(104),(110),(116),
and(214)peaksat620◦C.Theintensitiesofthe(104)peakwas
higherthantheotherpeaksofZnTiO3filmsat820◦C,indicatingthat
thereishighly(104)-orientedZnTiO3onthesiliconsubstrate.The
XPScorelevelanalysisoftheZnTiO3filmshavebeenmeasuredfor
O1s,thechangeduetoZn–TicomplexcompoundthataltertheH,
M,Rms,andRafromannealingtreatment.Theaverage
nanoinden-tationdepthincreasedsignificantlyuponincreasingtheannealing
temperature,implyingthathigherannealingtemperatureresulted
inweakerbonds,lowerresistance,anddecreasedinstrainenergy
atthefilm.
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