Growth of preferred orientation Ge film using inductively coupled plasma-assisted DC magnetron sputtering at low temperature

Growth of low-temperature metal-free crystallized Ge film was investigated using inductively coupled plasma-assisted DC magnetron sputtering. The films were deposited both without and with inductively coupled plasma. The films deposited by a conventional DC magnetron sputtering system had randomly oriented crystalline structures. However, the addition of inductively coupled plasma developed crystal phase from an amorphous to a preferred oriented crystalline with increasing sputtering power. The optical band gaps of the amorphous and crystalline phases were 0.96 eV and 0.7 eV, respectively. (C) 2013 Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved.