Structural, chemical and optical properties of cerium dioxide film prepared by atomic layer deposition on TiN and Si substrates

Thin films of cerium dioxide (CeO2) were deposited by atomic layer deposition (ALD) at 250 °C on both Si and titanium nitride (TiN) substrates. The ALD growth produces CeO2 films with polycrystalline cubic phase on both substrates. However, the films show a preferential orientation along 〈200〉 crystallographic direction for CeO2/Si or 〈111〉 for CeO2/TiN, as revealed by X-ray diffraction. Additionally, CeO2 films differ in the interface roughness depending on the substrate. Furthermore, the relative concentration of Ce3 + is 22.0% in CeO2/Si and around 18% in CeO2/TiN, as obtained by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Such values indicate a ~ 10% off-stoichiometry and are indicative of the presence of oxygen vacancies in the films. Nonetheless, CeO2 bandgap energy and refractive index at 550 nm are 3.54 ± 0.63 eV and 2.3 for CeO2/Si, and 3.63 ± 0.18 eV and 2.4 for CeO2/TiN, respectively. Our results extend the knowledge on the structural and chemical properties of ALD-deposited CeO2 either on Si or TiN substrates, underlying films differences and similarities, thus contributing to boost the use of CeO2 through ALD deposition as foreseen in a wide number of applications.