Preparation and characterization of RF sputtered MgO : a possible buffer layer for high temperature superconductorsemiconductor hybrid devices

The present work has concentrated on the deposition of high quality MgO thin films on Si substrates by rf sputtering. High-purity Mg(99.99%) was used as the target for the film sputtering. During the sputtering, atoms of Mg react with O$ sb2$ to form MgO molecules which deposit in a thin film form on Si substrates. The substrates were heated at temperatures above 300$ sp circ$C during the sputtering process to improve the adhesion and crystallinity. The sputtered MgO thin films had a (111) preferred orientation. The thickness of the sputtered MgO thin film was about 0.1 $ mu$m. The ratio of Mg/O was equal to one throughout the film before heat treatment. After a treatment at elevated temperature, elemental interdiffusion between the thin film and the Si substrate occurred.Several heat treatment processes were employed on the sputtered MgO thin films to study the effect of heat treatment on the quality of thin films