Growth Temperature Effect of Atomic-Layer-Deposited GdOx Films

Abstract

Gadolinium oxide (Gd2O3) is one of the lanthanide rare-earth oxides, which has been extensively studied due to its versatile functionalities, such as a high permittivity, reactivity with moisture, and ionic conductivity, etc. In this work, GdOx thin film was grown by atomic layer deposition using cyclopentadienyl (Cp)-based Gd precursor and water. As-grown GdOx film was amorphous and had a sub-stoichiometric (x ~ 1.2) composition with a uniform elemental depth profile. ~3 nm-thick GdOx thin film could modify the hydrophilic Si substrate into hydrophobic surface with water wetting angle of 70°. Wetting and electrical test revealed that the growth temperature affects the hydrophobicity and electrical strength of the as-grown GdOx film.

Keywords

• gadolinium oxide (gd2o3)
• rare-earth oxide
• atomic layer deposition
• hydrophobicity
• electrical property