The surface morphology research of the BGaN thin films deposited by thermionic vacuum arc

Abstract

In this paper, BGaN thin films with two different thicknesses were deposited on two different substrates and their surface morphologies were investigated. The amorphous glass and semi-crystalline polyethylene terephthalate substrates were selected. At the same time, two different deposition angles are selected with a view to the effect of deposition angle on surface morphology. The surface and optical properties were determined by using X-ray diffractometer (XRD), atomic force microscope (AFM), spectroscopic ellipsometry (SE) and optical interferometer. The thicknesses of thin films on substrates are about 30 nm and 40 nm. According to the atomic force microscope images, small-dimensional grains observed on relatively large grains. The roughness values of the thin films on the polyethylene terephthalate substrate are lower than on the glass substrate. © 2016 Elsevier Ltd