Spectroscopic study of La2O3 thin films deposited by indigenously developed plasma-enhanced atomic layer deposition system

The spectroscopic study of La2O3 thin films deposited over Si and SiC at low RF power of 25 W by using indigenously developed plasma-enhanced atomic layer deposition (ID-PEALD) system has been investigated. The tris (cyclopentadienyl) lanthanum (III) and O-2 plasma were used as a source precursor of lanthanum and oxygen, respectively. The similar to 1.2 nm thick La2O3 over SiC and Si has been formed based on our recipe confirmed by means of cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy. The structural characterization of deposited films was performed by means of X-ray photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) and X-ray Diffraction (XRD). The XPS result confirms the formation of 3(+) oxidation state of the lanthania. The XRD results reveals that, deposited La2O3 films deposited on SiC are amorphous in nature compare to that of films on Si. The AFM micrograph shows the lowest roughness of 0.26 nm for 30 cycles of La2O3 thin films.