Sputter technique for deposition of AlN and ScAlN thin films in mass production

Reactively sputtered aluminum nitride (AlN) thin films are widely used in fabrication of various micro devices requiring piezoelectric actuation, such as FBAR, SMR, and Piezo MEMS. Due to recently discovered effect of scandium addition to AlN enabling enhanced electromechanical coupling coefficient, ScAlN is considered now as extremely attractive material for implementation in mass production. In this presentation, sputter techniques for the reactive sputtering of piezo-electric AlN and ScAlN thin films by the S-gun magnetron are described and some film properties are discussed.