Rapid thermal annealing of cerium dioxide thin films sputtered onto silicon (111) substrates: Influence of heating rate on microstructure and electrical properties

The impact of the heating rate (HR) of a Rapid Thermal Annealing (RTA) on the crystallinity and on the morphology of CeO2 thin films has been investigated by Raman Spectroscopy (RS), Photoluminescence (PL), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS), and tapping mode Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM). The electrical properties of CeO2 thin films have also been studied with the Conductive AFM mode. This paper highlights the importance of the heating rate value used during an RTA on crystalline quality, morphology and on the electrical properties of the CeO2 layer. In fact, the best crystallinity with a good morphology and a high resistivity has been obtained for a CeO2 layer sputtered on (111) Si substrate and post-annealed at 1000 °C for 30 s with an HR of 25 °C/s.