Growth of Epitaxial Al2O3 Films on Silicon by Ionized Beam Deposition

Epitaxial Al2O3 films have been successfully grown on an oxidized silicon substrate by the ionized beam deposition using an Al ion beam in oxygen environments. The crystalline quality dependence of the Al2O3 films on the growth temperatures was investigated. Using in situ reflection high energy electron diffraction, the orientation relationships between epitaxial Al2O3 films and Si substrate were found to be (100) Al2O3//(100) Si with [110] Al2O3//[110] Si and (111) Al2O3//(111) Si with [112] Al2O3//[112] Si. The stoichiometry of the films was found to be similar to that of sapphire from XPS measurements.