Thin film

A thin film is a layer of material ranging from fractions of a nanometer (monolayer) to several micrometers in
thickness. The controlled synthesis of materials as thin films (a process referred to as deposition) is a
fundamental step in many applications. A familiar example is the household mirror, which typically has a thin
metal coating on the back of a sheet of glass to form a reflective interface. The process of silvering was once
commonly used to produce mirrors, while more recently the metal layer is deposited using techniques such as
sputtering. Advances in thin film deposition techniques during the 20th century have enabled a wide range of
technological breakthroughs in areas such as magnetic recording media, electronic semiconductor devices,
Integrated passive devices, LEDs, optical coatings (such as antireflective coatings), hard coatings on cutting
tools, and for both energy generation (e.g. thin-film solar cells) and storage (thin-film batteries). It is also being
applied to pharmaceuticals, via thin-film drug delivery. A stack of thin films is called a multilayer.

In addition to their applied interest, thin films play an important role in the development and study of materials
with new and unique properties. Examples include multiferroic materials, and superlattices that allow the study
of quantum phenomena.

Contents
Deposition
Chemical deposition
Physical deposition
Growth modes
Epitaxy
Applications
Decorative coatings
Optical coatings
Protective coatings
Electrically operating coatings
Biosensors and plasmonic devices
Thin-film photovoltaic cells
Thin-film batteries
Thin-film bulk acoustic wave resonators (TFBARs/FBARs)
References
Further reading
Textbooks
Historical
See also

Deposition
The act of applying a thin film to a surface is thin-film deposition – any technique for depositing a thin film of
material onto a substrate or onto previously deposited layers. "Thin" is a relative term, but most deposition
techniques control layer thickness within a few tens of nanometres. Molecular beam epitaxy, the Langmuir–
Blodgett method, atomic layer deposition and molecular layer deposition allow a single layer of atoms or
molecules to be deposited at a time.

It is useful in the manufacture of optics (for reflective, anti-reflective coatings or self-cleaning glass, for
instance), electronics (layers of insulators, semiconductors, and conductors form integrated circuits), packaging
(i.e., aluminium-coated PET film), and in contemporary art (see the work of Larry Bell). Similar processes are
sometimes used where thickness is not important: for instance, the purification of copper by electroplating, and
the deposition of silicon and enriched uranium by a CVD-like process after gas-phase processing.

Deposition techniques fall into two broad categories, depending on whether the process is primarily chemical
or physical.[1]

Chemical deposition

Here, a fluid precursor undergoes a chemical change at a solid surface, leaving a solid layer. An everyday
example is the formation of soot on a cool object when it is placed inside a flame. Since the fluid surrounds the
solid object, deposition happens on every surface, with little regard to direction; thin films from chemical
deposition techniques tend to be conformal, rather than directional.

Chemical deposition is further categorized by the phase of the precursor:

Plating relies on liquid precursors, often a solution of water with a salt of the metal to be deposited. Some
plating processes are driven entirely by reagents in the solution (usually for noble metals), but by far the most
commercially important process is electroplating. It was not commonly used in semiconductor processing for
many years, but has seen a resurgence with more widespread use of chemical-mechanical polishing
techniques.

Chemical solution deposition (CSD) or chemical bath deposition (CBD) uses a liquid precursor, usually a
solution of organometallic powders dissolved in an organic solvent. This is a relatively inexpensive, simple
thin-film process that produces stoichiometrically accurate crystalline phases. This technique is also known as
the sol-gel method because the 'sol' (or solution) gradually evolves towards the formation of a gel-like diphasic
system.

The Langmuir–Blodgett method uses molecules floating on top of an aqueous subphase. The packing density
of molecules is controlled, and the packed monolayer is transferred on a solid substrate by controlled
withdrawal of the solid substrate from the subphase. This allows creating thin films of various molecules such
as nanoparticles, polymers and lipids with controlled particle packing density and layer thickness.[2]

Spin coating or spin casting, uses a liquid precursor, or sol-gel precursor deposited onto a smooth, flat substrate
which is subsequently spun at a high velocity to centrifugally spread the solution over the substrate. The speed
at which the solution is spun and the viscosity of the sol determine the ultimate thickness of the deposited film.
Repeated depositions can be carried out to increase the thickness of films as desired. Thermal treatment is often
carried out in order to crystallize the amorphous spin coated film. Such crystalline films can exhibit certain
preferred orientations after crystallization on single crystal substrates.[3]

Dip coating is similar to spin coating in that a liquid precursor or sol-gel precursor is deposited on a substrate,
but in this case the substrate is completely submerged in the solution and then withdrawn under controlled
conditions. By controlling the withdrawal speed, the evaporation conditions (principally the humidity,
temperature) and the volatility/viscosity of the solvent, the film thickness, homogeneity and nanoscopic
morphology are controlled. There are two evaporation regimes: the capillary zone at very low withdrawal
speeds, and the draining zone at faster evaporation speeds.[4]

Chemical vapor deposition (CVD) generally uses a gas-phase precursor, often a halide or hydride of the
element to be deposited. In the case of MOCVD, an organometallic gas is used. Commercial techniques often
use very low pressures of precursor gas.

Plasma enhanced CVD (PECVD) uses an ionized vapor, or plasma, as a precursor. Unlike the soot example
above, commercial PECVD relies on electromagnetic means (electric current, microwave excitation), rather
than a chemical-reaction, to produce a plasma.

Atomic layer deposition (ALD), and its sister technique molecular layer deposition (MLD), uses gaseous
precursor to deposit conformal thin films one layer at a time. The process is split up into two half reactions, run
in sequence and repeated for each layer, in order to ensure total layer saturation before beginning the next
layer. Therefore, one reactant is deposited first, and then the second reactant is deposited, during which a
chemical reaction occurs on the substrate, forming the desired composition. As a result of the stepwise, the
process is slower than CVD, however it can be run at low temperatures, unlike CVD.

Physical deposition

Physical deposition uses mechanical, electromechanical or thermodynamic means to produce a thin film of
solid. An everyday example is the formation of frost. Since most engineering materials are held together by
relatively high energies, and chemical reactions are not used to store these energies, commercial physical
deposition systems tend to require a low-pressure vapor environment to function properly; most can be
classified as physical vapor deposition (PVD).

The material to be deposited is placed in an energetic, entropic environment, so that particles of material escape
its surface. Facing this source is a cooler surface which draws energy from these particles as they arrive,
allowing them to form a solid layer. The whole system is kept in a vacuum deposition chamber, to allow the
particles to travel as freely as possible. Since particles tend to follow a straight path, films deposited by
physical means are commonly directional, rather than conformal.

Examples of physical deposition include:

A thermal evaporator that uses an electric resistance heater to melt the material and raise its vapor pressure to a
useful range. This is done in a high vacuum, both to allow the vapor to reach the substrate without reacting
with or scattering against other gas-phase atoms in the chamber, and reduce the incorporation of impurities
from the residual gas in the vacuum chamber. Obviously, only materials with a much higher vapor pressure
than the heating element can be deposited without contamination of the film. Molecular beam epitaxy is a
particularly sophisticated form of thermal evaporation.

An electron beam evaporator fires a high-energy beam from an electron gun to boil a small spot of material;
since the heating is not uniform, lower vapor pressure materials can be deposited. The beam is usually bent
through an angle of 270° in order to ensure that the gun filament is not directly exposed to the evaporant flux.
Typical deposition rates for electron beam evaporation range from 1 to 10 nanometres per second.

In molecular beam epitaxy (MBE), slow streams of an element can be directed at the substrate, so that material
deposits one atomic layer at a time. Compounds such as gallium arsenide are usually deposited by repeatedly
applying a layer of one element (i.e., gallium), then a layer of the other (i.e., arsenic), so that the process is
chemical, as well as physical; this is known also as atomic layer deposition. If the precursors in use are
organic, then the technique is called molecular layer deposition. The beam of material can be generated by
either physical means (that is, by a furnace) or by a chemical reaction (chemical beam epitaxy).
Sputtering relies on a plasma (usually a noble gas, such as argon) to
knock material from a "target" a few atoms at a time. The target can
be kept at a relatively low temperature, since the process is not one of
evaporation, making this one of the most flexible deposition
techniques. It is especially useful for compounds or mixtures, where
different components would otherwise tend to evaporate at different
rates. Note, sputtering's step coverage is more or less conformal. It is
also widely used in optical media. The manufacturing of all formats of
CD, DVD, and BD are done with the help of this technique. It is a
fast technique and also it provides a good thickness control. Presently,
nitrogen and oxygen gases are also being used in sputtering.

Pulsed laser deposition systems work by an ablation process. Pulses

One-atom-thick islands of silver
of focused laser light vaporize the surface of the target material and deposited on the surface of
convert it to plasma; this plasma usually reverts to a gas before it palladium by thermal evaporation.
reaches the substrate.[6] Calibration of the surface coverage
was achieved by tracking the time
Cathodic arc deposition (arc-PVD) which is a kind of ion beam needed to complete a full monolayer
deposition where an electrical arc is created that literally blasts ions using tunneling microscopy (STM)
from the cathode. The arc has an extremely high power density and from the emergence of quantum-
resulting in a high level of ionization (30–100%), multiply charged well states characteristic of the silver
ions, neutral particles, clusters and macro-particles (droplets). If a film thickness in photoemission
reactive gas is introduced during the evaporation process, dissociation, spectroscopy (ARPES). Image size
ionization and excitation can occur during interaction with the ion flux is 250 nm by 250 nm.[5]
and a compound film will be deposited.

Electrohydrodynamic deposition (electrospray deposition) is a relatively new process of thin-film deposition.

The liquid to be deposited, either in the form of nanoparticle solution or simply a solution, is fed to a small
capillary nozzle (usually metallic) which is connected to a high voltage. The substrate on which the film has to
be deposited is connected to ground. Through the influence of electric field, the liquid coming out of the
nozzle takes a conical shape (Taylor cone) and at the apex of the cone a thin jet emanates which disintegrates
into very fine and small positively charged droplets under the influence of Rayleigh charge limit. The droplets
keep getting smaller and smaller and ultimately get deposited on the substrate as a uniform thin layer.

Growth modes

Frank–van der Merwe growth[7][8][9] ("layer-by-layer"). In this

growth mode the adsorbate-surface and adsorbate-adsorbate
interactions are balanced. This type of growth requires lattice
matching, and hence considered an "ideal" growth mechanism.

Stranski–Krastanov growth[10] ("joint islands" or "layer-plus-island").

Frank–van-der-Merwe mode
In this growth mode the adsorbate-surface interactions are stronger
than adsorbate-adsorbate interactions.

Volmer–Weber[11] ("isolated islands"). In this growth mode the adsorbate-adsorbate interactions are stronger
than adsorbate-surface interactions, hence "islands" are formed right away.

Epitaxy
A subset of thin-film deposition processes and applications is focused
on the so-called epitaxial growth of materials, the deposition of
crystalline thin films that grow following the crystalline structure of
the substrate. The term epitaxy comes from the Greek roots epi (ἐπί),
meaning "above", and taxis (τάξις), meaning "an ordered manner". It
can be translated as "arranging upon".
Stranski–Krastanov mode
The term homoepitaxy refers to the specific case in which a film of
the same material is grown on a crystalline substrate. This technology
is used, for instance, to grow a film which is more pure than the
substrate, has a lower density of defects, and to fabricate layers having
different doping levels. Heteroepitaxy refers to the case in which the
film being deposited is different than the substrate.

Techniques used for epitaxial growth of thin films include molecular

beam epitaxy, chemical vapor deposition, and pulsed laser
Volmer–Weber mode
deposition.[12]

Applications

Decorative coatings

The usage of thin films for decorative coatings probably represents their oldest application. This encompasses
ca. 100 nm thin gold leafs that were already used in ancient India more than 5000 years ago. It may also be
understood as any form of painting, although this kind of work is generally considered as an arts craft rather
than an engineering or scientific discipline. Today, thin-film materials of variable thickness and high refractive
index like titanium dioxide are often applied for decorative coatings on glass for instance, causing a rainbow-
color appearance like oil on water. In addition, intransparent gold-colored surfaces may either be prepared by
sputtering of gold or titanium nitride.

Optical coatings

These layers serve in both reflective and refractive systems. Large-area (reflective) mirrors became available
during the 19th century and were produced by sputtering of metallic silver or aluminum on glass. Refractive
lenses for optical instruments like cameras and microscopes typically exhibit aberrations, i.e. non-ideal
refractive behavior. While large sets of lenses had to be lined up along the optical path previously, nowadays,
the coating of optical lenses with transparent multilayers of titanium dioxide, silicon nitride or silicon oxide etc.
may correct these aberrations. A well-known example for the progress in optical systems by thin-film
technology is represented by the only a few mm wide lens in smart phone cameras. Other examples are given
by anti-reflection coatings on eyeglasses or solar panels.

Protective coatings

Thin films are often deposited to protect an underlying work piece from external influences. The protection
may operate by minimizing the contact with the exterior medium in order to reduce the diffusion from the
medium to the work piece or vice versa. For instance, plastic lemonade bottles are frequently coated by anti-
diffusion layers to avoid the out-diffusion of CO2 , into which carbonic acid decomposes that was introduced
into the beverage under high pressure. Another example is represented by thin TiN films in microelectronic
chips separating electrically conducting aluminum lines from the embedding insulator SiO2 in order to
suppress the formation of Al2 O3 . Often, thin films serve as protection against abrasion between mechanically
moving parts. Examples for the latter application are diamond-like carbon (DLC) layers used in car engines or
thin films made of nanocomposites.

Electrically operating coatings

Thin layers from elemental metals like copper, aluminum, gold or silver etc.
and alloys have found numerous applications in electrical devices. Due to
their high electrical conductivity they are able to transport electrical currents or
supply voltages. Thin metal layers serve in conventional electrical system, for
instance, as Cu layers on printed circuit boards, as the outer ground conductor
in coaxial cables and various other forms like sensors etc.[14] A major field of
application became their use in integrated passive devices and integrated
circuits, where the electrical network among active and passive devices like
transistors and capacitors etc. is built up from thin Al or Cu layers. These
layers dispose of thicknesses in the range of a few 100 nm up to a few µm, Laterally structured metal
and they are often embedded into a few nm thin titanium nitride layers in layer of an integrated
order to block a chemical reaction with the surrounding dielectric like SiO2 . circuit[13]
The figure shows a micrograph of a laterally structured TiN/Al/TiN metal
stack in a microelectronic chip.[13]

Biosensors and plasmonic devices

Noble metal thin films are used in plasmonic structures such as surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensors.
Surface plasmon polaritons are surface waves in the optical regime that propagate in between metal-dielectric
interfaces; in Kretschmann-Raether configuration for the SPR sensors, a prism is coated with a metallic film
through evaporation. Due to the poor adhesive characteristics of metallic films, germanium, titanium or
chromium films are used as intermediate layers to promote stronger adhesion.[15][16][17] Metallic thin films are
also used in plasmonic waveguide designs.[18][19]

Thin-film photovoltaic cells

Thin-film technologies are also being developed as a means of substantially reducing the cost of solar cells.
The rationale for this is thin-film solar cells are cheaper to manufacture owing to their reduced material costs,
energy costs, handling costs and capital costs. This is especially represented in the use of printed electronics
(roll-to-roll) processes. Other thin-film technologies, that are still in an early stage of ongoing research or with
limited commercial availability, are often classified as emerging or third generation photovoltaic cells and
include, organic, dye-sensitized, and polymer solar cells, as well as quantum dot, copper zinc tin sulfide,
nanocrystal and perovskite solar cells.

Thin-film batteries

Thin-film printing technology is being used to apply solid-state lithium polymers to a variety of substrates to
create unique batteries for specialized applications. Thin-film batteries can be deposited directly onto chips or
chip packages in any shape or size. Flexible batteries can be made by printing onto plastic, thin metal foil, or
paper.[20]

Thin-film bulk acoustic wave resonators (TFBARs/FBARs)

For miniaturising and more precise control of resonance frequency of piezoelectric crystals thin-film bulk
acoustic resonators TFBARs/FBARs are developed for oscillators, telecommunication filters and duplexers,
and sensor applications.

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Further reading

Textbooks
Birkholz, Mario; Fewster, Paul F.; Genzel, Christoph (23 December 2005). Thin Film Analysis
by X-Ray Scattering (https://archive.org/details/thinfilmanalysis0000birk). Wiley-VCH.
 ISBN 978-3527310524.
Ohring, Milton (26 October 2001). Materials Science of Thin Films, Second Edition. Academic
Press. ISBN 978-1493301720.
Seshan, Krishna (11 July 2017). Handbook of Thin Film Deposition 3rd Edition. William
Andrew Publishing. ISBN 978-1437778731.

Historical
Mattox, Donald M (14 January 2004). The Foundations of Vacuum Coating Technology.
William Andrew Publishing. ISBN 978-0815514954.

See also
Coating
Dual-polarisation interferometry
Ellipsometry
Hydrogenography
Kelvin probe force microscope
Langmuir–Blodgett film
Layer by layer
Microfabrication
Organic LED
Sarfus
Thin-film interference
Thin-film optics
Thin-film solar cell
Thin-film bulk acoustic resonator

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