Preparation of highly c-axis oriented AlN thin films on Hastelloy tapes with Y2O3 buffer layer for flexible SAW sensor applications

Highly c-axis oriented aluminum nitrade (AlN) films were successfully deposited on flexible Hastelloy tapes by middle-frequency magnetron sputtering. The microstructure and piezoelectric properties of the AlN films were investigated. The results show that the AlN films deposited directly on the bare Hastelloy substrate have rough surface with root mean square (RMS) roughness of 32.43[Formula: see text]nm and its full width at half maximum (FWHM) of the AlN (0002) peak is [Formula: see text]. However, the AlN films deposited on the Hastelloy substrate with Y2O3 buffer layer show smooth surface with RMS roughness of 5.46[Formula: see text]nm and its FWHM of the AlN (0002) peak is only [Formula: see text]. The piezoelectric coefficient d[Formula: see text] of the AlN films deposited on the Y2O3/Hastelloy substrate is larger than three times that of the AlN films deposited on the bare Hastelloy substrate. The prepared highly c-axis oriented AlN films can be used to develop high-temperature flexible SAW sensors.