Controllable phase formation and physical properties of yttrium oxide films governed by substrate heating and bias voltage

Abstract In order to understand the growth behavior of yttrium oxide films driven by thermodynamics and kinetics, two fundamental growth parameters, substrate heating and biasing, were investigated to control film structure and properties comprehensively. We observed two distinct areas, normal deposition area (area 1) and abnormal deposition area (etching area, area 2) at different substrate bias voltages regardless of the substrate temperature. X-ray diffraction (XRD) results show that heating promotes cubic phase formation, whereas ion bombardment induces monoclinic phase growth. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) measurements exhibit that the ions slightly enlarge the surface islands in area 1, whereas they flatten and smoothen the surface in area 2. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) results demonstrate that high temperature suppresses the physisorbed oxygen, and the ion bombardment favorably selects oxygen etching in area 1, causing excess oxygen vacancies. This selectivity almost disappears in area 2. Furthermore, the refractive index and band gap can be enhanced by both substrate temperature and bias voltage. The surface wettability of films can be modulated by the surface chemical composition.