Crucial role of reactive pulse-gas on a sputtered Zn3N2 thin film formation

Abstract

Herein, we demonstrate a powerful technique, known as reactive gas-timing (RGT) rf magnetron sputtering, to fabricate high quality Zn₃N₂ thin films at room temperature without applying any additional energy sources. A single phase of Zn₃N₂ film formation can only be obtained when a reactive pulse-gas of N₂ is utilized. We find that selecting a small atomic mass of sputtered reactive gas coupled with the pulse-gas technique is very crucial to adjust the number of sputtered atoms obtained from the target and enrich the forming energy of the sputtered Zn₃N₂ films during the deposition process. Our results highlight that the RGT technique is a promising method to fabricate high quality sputtered compound thin films that can be applied in flexible devices. A simplified model of the materials system at the surface region of the de-nitride Zn₃N₂ during ion bombardment is also presented.