Surface smoothing effect of an amorphous thin film deposited by atomic layer deposition on a surface with nano-sized roughness

Abstract

Previously, Lau (one of the authors) pointed out that the deposition of an amorphous thin film by atomic layer deposition (ALD) on a substrate with nano-sized roughness probably has a surface smoothing effect. In this letter, polycrystalline zinc oxide deposited by ALD onto a smooth substrate was used as a substrate with nano-sized roughness. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) and cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy (XTEM) were used to demonstrate that an amorphous aluminum oxide thin film deposited by ALD can reduce the surface roughness of a polycrystalline zinc oxide coated substrate.