Ma e ials Science-Poland, 33(1), 2015, pp. 175-184
h p://www.ma e ialsscience.pw .w oc.pl/
DOI: 10.1515/msp-2015-0036
Mo phological ea u es in aluminum ni ide epilaye s
p epa ed by magne on spu e ing
SEBASTIAN STACH1, DINARA DALLAEVA2, ¸STEFAN ¸T˘
ALU3∗, PAVEL KASPAR2,
PAVEL TOMÁNEK2, STEFANO GIOVANZANA4, LUBOMÍR GRMELA2
1Uni e si y o Silesia, Facul y o Compu e Science and Ma e ials Science, Ins i u e o In o ma ics,
Depa men o Biomedical Compu e Sys ems, ul. B˛edzi´
nska 39, 41-205 Sosnowiec, Poland
2B no Uni e si y o Technology, Facul y o Elec ical Enginee ing and Communica ion, Physics Depa men , Technická 8,
616 00 B no, Czech Republic
3Technical Uni e si y o Cluj-Napoca, Facul y o Mechanical Enginee ing, Depa men o AET, Discipline o Desc ip i e
Geome y and Enginee ing G aphics, 103-105 B-dul Muncii S ., Cluj-Napoca 400641, Cluj, Romania
4Uni e si y o Milan-Bicocca, 20125 Milano, I aly
The aim o his s udy is o cha ac e ize he su ace opog aphy o aluminum ni ide (AlN) epilaye s p epa ed by magne on
spu e ing using he su ace s a is ical pa ame e s, acco ding o ISO 25178-2:2012. To unde s and he e ec o empe a u e
on he epilaye s uc u e, he su ace opog aphy was in es iga ed h ough a omic o ce mic oscopy (AFM). AFM da a and
analysis o su ace s a is ical pa ame e s indica ed he dependence o mo phology o he epilaye s on hei g ow h condi ions.
The su ace s a is ical pa ame e s p o ide impo an in o ma ion abou su ace ex u e and a e use ul o manu ac u e s in de-
eloping AlN hin ilms wi h imp o ed su ace cha ac e is ics. These esul s a e also impo an o unde s anding he nanoscale
phenomena a he con ac s be ween ough su aces, such as he a ea o con ac , he in e acial sepa a ion, and he adhesi e and
ic ional p ope ies.
Keywo ds: aluminum ni ide epilaye ; a omic o ce mic oscopy; magne on spu e ing; subs a e; su ace oughness
© W oclaw Uni e si y o Technology.
1. In oduc ion
As opposed o bulk ma e ial hin laye s p ope -
ies s ongly depend on he su ace condi ion. Mo -
phological ea u es and associa ed wi h hem s a is-
ical pa ame e s ( olume and spa ial) de ine su ace
p o ile o ilms opog aphy and cha ac e ize hei
quali y. Mic o- and nano-aspe i ies e alua ion is
impo an in he e os uc u es p epa a ion. Topog-
aphy o he ilms also in luences he su ace o he
deposi ed hin con ac laye s.
Aluminum ni ide is an A3B5g oup wide band
gap (6.3 eV) semiconduc o [1] wi h a wu zi e
c ys al s uc u e. I s expe imen al c ys al la ice pa-
ame e s a e: a =3.11 Å, c =4.98 Å, yielding a
elaxed c/a a io o 1.6 [2]. The e is a conside -
able ionic componen in AlN bonding because o
∗E-mail: s e an_ [email p o ec ed]
elec onega i i ies (1.6 and 3.0) o Al and N a oms.
The a omic adii a e 1.25 Å o Al and 0.70 Å
o N [3]. One aluminum a om is su ounded by
ou ni ogen a oms, making up a dis o ed e a-
hed on wi h h ee bonds and one bond in he di-
ec ion o he c-axis [4]. The elec onega i i ies o
Al and N a e e y di e en : 1.6 and 3.0, espec-
i ely, and so he e is a signi ican ionic compo-
nen o he bonding in AlN. O he p ope ies o
AlN a e: di ec band gap (6.2 eV), he mal conduc-
i i y (285 W·m−1·K−1), coe icien o he mal ex-
pansion (4 o 5 × 10−6K−1), e ac i e index (1.8
o 2.2) and dielec ic cons an (8.5) [4].
P ominen ea u es o aluminum ni ide make
his ma e ial one o he mos desi able in mod-
e n elec onics. I is cha ac e ized by in e es ing
ibological [5] p ope ies, high alue o ha dness
and high he mal conduc i i y, mode a e piezoelec-
ici y, low dielec ic and acous ic losses [6], high
176 SEBASTIAN STACH e al.
esis ance o empe a u e and s abili y in co osi e
medium [7], good hea dissipa ion [8], high di-
elec ic cons an , mode a ely high elec omechan-
ical coupling coe icien [9], low coe icien o
he mal expansion [4], high elas ic s i ness [2],
non- oxici y [10], elec ical eliabili y [11], ligh
weigh [12], high usion empe a u e [13], high e-
ac i e index, anspa ence in isible ligh [14].
All hese cha ac e is ics in combina ion wi h la ge
op ical band gap make AlN sui able o applica-
ions in high powe and high equency de ices,
su ace acous ic wa e il e s, insula ing [7], pas-
si a ing, cladding laye s [15] and op ical de ices
(blue ligh emi ing diodes, sho wa eleng h lase s,
ul a iole ligh de ec o s [16], compac disks, lase
diodes, phase shi li hog aphy masks, AlN/GaN
mul ilaye de ices [17], o g ow h o GaN laye s
on Al2O3and on 6H–SiC, which a e also o in-
e es as pe spec i e ma e ials), elec oluminescen
applica ions o e a wide wa eleng h ange [18],
acous ic-op ic de ices.
Oxidized AlN can subs i u e adi ional passi-
a ing ilms, such as silicon ni ide and silicon
oxide, a p- ype sola cells [13], selec i e de ec-
o s [19], ield emi e s o la panel displays, high-
speed ansis o s [20]. As no ed Auge e al. [7], i
can be applied as an in e media e bu e laye o
op ical and elec onic de ices and o u he ab i-
ca ion o he e os uc u es.
AlN hin ilms can be applied o me al-
oxide-semiconduc o ield-e ec ansis o [21],
CMOS echnologies, mic oelec omechnical and
mic oop omechanical sys ems ab ica ion [22,23],
elec onic packaging, wa eguides, senso s [24],
elec o-acous ic applica ions (mic oac ua o s, il-
e s, esona o s, acous ic modula o s, su ace
acous ic wa e de ices) [6,11,25]. The e a e a lo
o me hods o hin ilms ab ica ion, such as pulsed
lase deposi ion, eac i e molecula beam epi axy,
acuum a c/ca hodic a c deposi ion, DC/RF eac-
i e spu e ing, ion beam spu e ing, me al-o ganic
chemical apo deposi ion e c. [26].
The way o AlN o ma ion is de e mined
by subsequen applica ions. Magne on spu e -
ing is one o physical hin ilm deposi ion ech-
niques and is cha ac e ized by low- empe a u e
deposi ion, ease o syn hesis, low cos , non-
oxici y, good quali y ilms wi h a ai ly smoo h
su ace [4]. Magne on spu e ing is employed in
hin ilms p oduc ion o di e en applica ions in
mic oelec onics, pa ially in eg a ed ci cui s and
in op oelec onics. By changing o p ocess pa am-
e e s (bias- ol age, subs a e empe a u e, gas mix-
u e, p essu e, spu e cu en , applied ol age [27])
i is possible o con ol he ilm mic os uc u e
and i s mechanical, op ical, and elec ical p ope -
ies [28]. This me hod allows p ocessing he sub-
s a e and ilm su aces, such as e ching, deposi-
ion, annealing, and ion implan a ion [29].
By magne on spu e ing i is possible o ab i-
ca e ha d, wea - esis an , low ic ion, co osion e-
sis an , deco a i e coa ings and coa ings wi h spe-
ci ic op ical, o elec ical p ope ies [30], hin ilm
senso s, pho o ol aic hin ilms (sola cells), me al
can ile e s and in e connec s [31]. The c i ical ac-
o o piezoelec ic AlN hin ilm is i s c ys al o i-
en a ion and mo phology [4].
Low-cos AlN-on-silicon pho onic ci cui s a e
excellen subs i u es o complemen a y me al-
oxide-semiconduc o -compa ible pho onic ci cui s
o building new unc ional op omechanical de-
ices ha a e ee om ca ie e ec s [9].
The s udies o AlN hin ilm could be di ided
in o he in es iga ions which emphasize chemi-
cal and physical p ope ies (mechanical, elec ical,
magne ic) [6,9,17,21,22], analysis o he ilms
s uc u e [4,7,12,15,16,19,23–25,32] and com-
bined, showing he dependences o he p ope ies
on he ilms mo phology [2,11,13,14,26,33–
35]. The s uc u e o he hin ilms can u e ly di e
om he s uc u e o bulk ma e ial and ha e di e -
en s uc u al pe ec ion.
The su ace ea u es, such as de ec concen a-
ion, a e e y impo an in he case o hin ilms.
Some p ope ies o hin ilms s ongly depend on
he s uc u e. The s udy was ca ied ou on he ap-
plicabili y o s a is ical pa ame e s o aluminum
ni ide hin ilms cha ac e iza ion. This analysis
ep esen s ins uc i e in o ma ion o hin ilms
manu ac u ing and p ocessing.
Mo phological ea u es in aluminum ni ide epilaye s p epa ed by magne on spu e ing 177
2. Ma e ials and me hods
2.1. Ma e ials
The p ocesses used o aluminum ni ide o -
ma ion by magne on spu e ing include d y e ch-
ing, ion implan a ion o he subs a e and spu e -
ing o he a ge . We used magne on spu e ing
o aluminum a ge o hin ilms ab ica ion since
his me hod is compa ible o semiconduc o p o-
cesses. The ounda ion o his me hod is spu e ing
o a ge ma e ial (high-pu i y aluminum) by ions
o wo king gas in plasma o glow discha ge. A -
gon (A 2)was used o a ge spu e ing. Plasma
occu s in acuum a e applying high ol age be-
ween ca hode- a ge and anode and ac s as a con-
duc ing medium. The essen ial cons i uen s o he
p ocess a e ca hode, anode and magne ic sys em
o plasma con inemen nea he ca hode su ace.
High spu e ing a e and accu acy o he composi e
ecu ence a e he ad an ages o magne on spu -
e ing. The p essu e in he wo king chambe was 3
o 7 × 10−2Pa, cu en densi y o discha ge 5 o
7 × 10 A/m2. These pa ame e s de ine he a e
o condensa ion which consequen ly in luences he
s uc u e o he ilms. The ilms can be ob ained by
spu e ing o polyc ys alline aluminum ni ide a -
ge , bu i is possible o con ol hin ilms s uc u e
by gas composi ion in he chambe . The ni ogen
gas was used o c ea ion o wo k ambience and
o accomplish ni ogen inco po a ion in AlN ab-
ica ion. Magne on spu e ing de ice allows ab i-
ca ion o ma e ials wi h good s oichiome y. This
me hod was desc ibed by Dallae a e al. [36]. Alu-
minum ni ide ilms we e deposi ed on sapphi e
subs a es (Al2O3)a di e en subs a e empe a-
u es. Monoc ys alline sapphi e is one o he ha d-
es oxides, wi h high ha dness a high empe a u es,
good he mo-physical p ope ies and i is op ically
anspa en in he isible ligh o nea -in a ed e-
gion [36].
The subs a es we e cleaned by d y e ching in
o de o emo e he aces o polishing and hen
he ni idiza ion o nea su ace a ea was ca ied
ou . This helped o c ea e he bu e laye be ween
Al2O3and AlN. The subs a e empe a u e has a
s ong impac on he g ow h beha io [27] and
mo phology o he ilms. The empe a u e o he
subs a e is a e y impo an pa ame e because i s
changing causes a change in ene ge ic ba ie nea
he subs a e su ace. In addi ion, i in luences he
cha ac e o ilm g ow h: sizes o nucleolus and a e
o nuclea ion.
We ob ained he ilms a h ee empe a u es
(1000 K, 1300 K and 1500 K) o he subs a e. The
ilm becomes smoo h a low wid h and i consis s
o la ge numbe o small nuclei. These islands a e
h ee-dimensional (3-D) and hey ha e no iceable
sizes in he no mal di ec ion o g ow h plane [37].
2.2. Me hods
The ilms ha e been cha ac e ized by a omic
o ce mic oscopy (AFM) and scanning elec on
mic oscopy (SEM) in o de o desc ibe he 3-D
g ow h cha ac e o hin ilms and o in es iga e
hei su ace mo phology. 3-D su ace oughness
o he epilaye s was in es iga ed by a omic o ce
mic oscope N eg a P ima (NT-MDT, Russian Fed-
e a ion) in semi-con ac mode.
Can ile e s, model NSG01 DLC (AFM
“Golden” Silicon P obes) [38] wi h he ollow-
ing nominal speci ica ions: esonan equency
150 kHz, o ce cons an 5.1 N/m, leng h 125 µm,
wid h 30 µm and hickness 2 µm, we e used.
The ip speci ica ions we e as ollows: e ahed al
shape, heigh 14 µm, cu a u e adius 6 nm, and
cone angle a he apex 7° o 10° [38].
All measu emen s we e pe o med in he same
oom, a oom empe a u e (298 ± 1 K) and
(50 ± 1 %) ela i e humidi y. The measu emen s
we e epea ed ou imes o each sample on di e -
en e e ence a eas, o alida e he ep oducibili y
o hese ea u es.
2.3. Su ace cha ac e iza ion using quan-
i a i e pa ame e s
The 3-D su ace cha ac e is ics a e highly com-
plex and hei unde s anding plays a de e mi-
nan ole in ecognizing physico-chemical in e -
ac ions and in e acial p ope ies a he nanome-
e ange, in ol ed in manu ac u ing p ocess [39–
41]. Su ace ex u e is he epe i i e o andom de-
ia ion om he nominal su ace ha o ms he
178 SEBASTIAN STACH e al.
3-D opog aphy o he su ace and includes:
oughness (nano-and mic o oughness); wa iness
(mac o oughness); lay and laws [39].
The 3-D su ace oughness o hin ilms can
be desc ibed using he classical desc ip i e ap-
p oach [42–47]. De ailed su ace cha ac e iza ion
o he hin ilms was ob ained using six quan i a-
i e pa ame e s (heigh , unc ional, spa ial, hyb id,
unc ional ( olume) and ea u e pa ame e s), ac-
co ding o ISO 25178-2:2012 [48,49].
2.4. S a is ical analysis
S a is ical analyses we e pe o med using he
G aphPad InS a e sion 3.20 compu e so wa e
package (G aphPad, San Diego, CA, USA) [50].
The Kolmogo o -Smi no es was used o as-
sess he no mal dis ibu ion o quan i a i e a i-
ables. Compa isons among di e en a eas wi hin
he same sample we e pe o med using indepen-
den samples T- es . When s a is ical signi icance
was ound, he di e ence be ween wo g oups was
u he compa ed using he Mann-Whi ney U es .
Di e ences wi h a P alue o 0.05 o less we e con-
side ed s a is ically signi ican .
3. Resul s
The ep esen a i e wo-dimensional (2-D) mi-
c o opog aphic images o AlN laye s on he sap-
phi e subs a e ob ained a 1000 K, 1300 K and
1500 K, o a scanning squa e a ea o 5 µm × 5 µm,
a e shown in Fig. 1.
As known, he e a e se e al possible s uc u es
o AlN c ys als: g anula , wo m-like, and a colum-
na su ace o g ains [23]. In ou case o cleaned
and ni idized sapphi e subs a e, he columna
s uc u e has been expec ed. I has been expec ed
ha he g ains a e o ien ed along he g ow h di ec-
ion [34].
The he e os uc u e o (0001)AlN /(0001)Al2O3
was s udied by scanning elec on mic oscopy
(SEM) wi h he SEM sys em (FEI Quan a 200).
This measu emen showed he occu ence o AlN
ilm on he Al2O3subs a e. In he c oss-sec ional
image (Fig. 2) he e a e c ys alline columna g ains
o AlN. Thei ops a e la .
(a)
(b)
(c)
Fig. 1. Rep esen a i e 2-D mic o opog aphic AFM
images o AlN epilaye s on sapphi e subs a es
ob ained a : a) 1000 K, b) 1300 K and c) 1500 K;
scanning squa e a ea o 5 µm × 5 µm; e ical
ange o he displayed da a (nm) and he colo
ba s a e shown on he igh side o he AFM
images.
Mo phological ea u es in aluminum ni ide epilaye s p epa ed by magne on spu e ing 179
Fig. 2. A SEM image o he AlN epilaye on he sap-
phi e subs a e in c oss-sec ion.
The g aphical s udy o olume pa ame e s (su -
ace): Vmp, V c, Vmc and V based upon he Ab-
bo cu e calcula ed on he su ace associa ed wi h
Fig. 1, is shown in Fig. 3.
The cu e o ma e ial sha e p o ides impo an
in o ma ion abou he condi ion o he su ace in
e ms o i s ope a ional sui abili y. I is known ha
o he op imal unc ionali y o he su ace, i is e-
qui ed o be p og essi e o p og essi e- eg essi e.
The g aphical s udy o Sk pa ame e s associ-
a ed wi h Fig. 1is shown in Fig. 4.
The peak coun his og ams associa ed wi h
Fig. 1a e shown in Fig. 5.
Quali a i e con ol o he image includes bo h
measu ing o he su ace ea u es and i s dis ibu-
ion along he su ace. The da a in Fig. 5indica e
he uni o m g ow h o su ace ea u e sizes wi h he
inc easing o subs a e empe a u e.
Heigh -heigh co ela ion unc ion p o ides
conside able in o ma ion abou opog aphy condi-
ion (such as es ima ion o co ela ion a eas, sizes
o g ains and holes, and he cha ac e o hei dis-
ibu ion). The heigh -heigh co ela ion unc ions
associa ed wi h Fig. 1a e shown in Fig. 6.
La e al o ce mode o AFM p o ides edge-
p ecision scanning o he su ace o ea u e em-
phasis. Fig. 7allows isual es ima ion o he su -
ace appea ance (small egula lines a e he scan-
ning a e ac s as no il e was applied in o de o
obse e he eal objec s shape).
A summa y o he s a is ical pa ame e s esul s
is p esen ed in Table 1.
(a)
(b)
(c)
Fig. 3. Face o AFM 3-D images (le side) and g aph-
ical s udy o olume pa ame e s: Vmp, V c,
Vmc and V ( igh side) based upon he Ab-
bo cu e calcula ed on he su ace. Two bea -
ing a io h esholds a e de ined (using he e -
ical ba s ha a e d awn wi h do ed lines). By
de aul , hese h esholds a e se a bea ing a ios
o 10 % and 80 %. The i s h eshold, p1 (de-
aul : 10 %), is used o de ine he cu le el c1
(and p2 de ines c2, espec i ely). AlN epilaye s
on sapphi e subs a es ob ained a : (a) 1000 K,
(b) 1300 K and (c) 1500 K.
4. Discussion
A omic o ce mic oscopy, scanning elec on
mic oscopy and desc ip i e analysis ha e been em-
ployed o cha ac e ize he ilms mo phology o alu-
minum ni ide (AlN) epilaye s p epa ed by mag-
ne on spu e ing on he sapphi e subs a es.
While he AFM measu emen s (Fig. 1) p o ide
a su ace appea ance and a ounda ion o u he
ma hema ical p ocessing, he SEM image (Fig. 2)
shows he inne s uc u e co esponding o AlN
g ow h in c oss-sec ion.

180 SEBASTIAN STACH e al.
Table 1. S a is ical pa ame e s o AlN epilaye s on he sapphi e subs a es ob ained a : (a) 1000 K, (b) 1300 K and
(c) 1500 K, based on ISO 25178-2:2012.
S a is ical pa ame e s Symbol Samples a 1000 K Samples a 1300 K Samples a 1500 K
Values Values Values
Heigh Pa ame e s
Roo mean squa e heigh Sq [nm] 3.18 4.39 3.17
Skewness Ssk [–] 4.27 −0.089 0.254
Ku osis Sku [–] 26.5 4.27 2.70
Maximum peak heigh Sp [nm] 28.2 19.1 9.87
Maximum pi heigh S [nm] 6.31 19.4 9.64
Maximum heigh Sz [nm] 34.5 38.4 19.5
A i hme ic mean heigh Sa [nm] 1.60 3.24 2.58
Func ional Pa ame e s
A eal ma e ial a io Sm [%] 100 100 100
In e se a eal ma e ial a io Smc [nm] 1.27 5.18 4.27
Ex eme peak heigh Sxp [nm] 2.73 9.81 5.27
Spa ial Pa ame e s
Au o-co ela ion leng h Sal [µm] 0.290 0.302 0.135
Tex u e-aspec a io S [–] 0.537 0.696 0.0545
Tex u e di ec ion S d [°] 111° 0.356° 0.363°
Hyb id Pa ame e s
Roo mean squa e g adien Sdq [–] 0.0371 0.0818 0.0866
De eloped in e acial a ea a io Sd [%] 0.0682 0.333 0.370
Func ional Pa ame e s (Volume)
Ma e ial olume Vm [µm³/µm²] 0.000544 0.000286 0.00016
Void olume V [µm³/µm²] 0.00181 0.00545 0.00441
Peak ma e ial olume Vmp [µm³/µm²] 0.000544 0.000286 0.00016
Co e ma e ial olume Vmc [µm³/µm²] 0.00122 0.00333 0.00298
Co e oid olume V c [µm³/µm²] 0.00165 0.00482 0.00414
Pi oid olume V [µm³/µm²] 0.000153 0.000634 0.000271
Fea u e Pa ame e s
Densi y o peaks Spd [1/µm²] 0.805 6.44 4.92
A i hme ic mean peak cu a u e Spc [1/µm] 2.98 6.96 5.58
Ten poin heigh S10z [nm] 11.5 19.4 13.2
Fi e poin peak heigh S5p [nm] 8.10 12.7 6.86
Fi e poin pi heigh S5 [nm] 3.40 6.66 6.33
Mean dale a ea Sda [µm²] 1.33 0.121 0.119
Mean hill a ea Sha [µm²] 0.692 0.120 0.122
Mean dale olume Sd [µm³] 0.000317 0.000027 0.000027
Mean hill olume Sh [µm³] 0.000082 0.000033 0.000057
Mo phological ea u es in aluminum ni ide epilaye s p epa ed by magne on spu e ing 181
(a)
(b)
(c)
Fig. 4. G aphical s udy o Sk pa ame e s o AlN epi-
laye s on he sapphi e subs a es ob ained a : (a)
1000 K, (b) 1300 K and (c) 1500 K.
(a)
(b)
(c)
Fig. 5. The peak coun his og ams o AlN epilaye s on
he sapphi e subs a es ob ained a : (a) 1000 K,
(b) 1300 K and (c) 1500 K.
182 SEBASTIAN STACH e al.
(a)
(b)
(c)
Fig. 6. The heigh -heigh co ela ion unc ions o
AlN epilaye s on he sapphi e subs a es ob-
ained a : (a) 1000 K, (co ela ion leng hs: Lx
=0.319 µm, Ly =0.356 µm); (b) 1300 K,
(co ela ion leng hs: Lx =0.317 µm, Ly =
0.212 µm); (c) 1500 K, (co ela ion leng hs: Lx
=0.224 µm, Ly =0.0815 µm).
Di e en nano-aspe i ies wi h a speci ic heigh
p obabili y dis ibu ion and aspe i y cu a u e o
di e en aspe i y sizes a e dis ibu ed o e he
3-D su ace o all he samples. The esul s show
ha he e is an in e dependence be ween he em-
pe a u e o a subs a e du ing deposi ion p ocess
and ilm mo phology. Also, he e is a connec ion
be ween 3-D su ace oughness pa ame e s and he
ilm ex u e (Table 1) since he ex u e could be
conside ed as a measu e o su ace oughness [51].
The esul s shown in Fig. 3and 4include in-
o ma ion abou olume and Sk pa ame e s. The e
is a dec ease o Vmp and consequen ly Spk al-
ues. I indica es he educ ion o he sudden peaks,
(a)
(b)
(c)
Fig. 7. AFM la e al o ce mode images o AlN epilay-
e s on he sapphi e subs a es ob ained a : (a)
1000 K, (b) 1300 K and (c) 1500 K.
and om physical poin o iew, i means he
homogeniza ion o g ain g ow h. Reduced peak
heigh o co e a io (Spk/Sk), acco ding o he da a
o Fig. 4, shows inc easing o ex u e ampli ude
symme y.
Mo phological ea u es in aluminum ni ide epilaye s p epa ed by magne on spu e ing 183
The peak coun his og ams (Fig. 5) show
alongside wi h dec easing o opog aphy heigh s
(x-axis), he wide peaks dis ibu ion, which means
ha he su ace ea u es become mo e compa able
(y-axis) in size a he highes subs a e empe a u e.
The esul s show he dec easing o co ela ion
leng h, caused by educ ion o cha ac e is ic dis-
ance, whe e he co ela ed bonds a e los be ween
he opog aphy ea u es (Fig. 6). Fo he highe
subs a e empe a u e du ing he deposi ion p o-
cess, he ilm is ep esen ed by well ex u ed a eas.
The same esul s ha e been ob ained by Gue e o
and Ga cía [25] who ob ained he AlN laye s by
chemical apo deposi ion and no ed ha he su -
ace mo phology became smoo h wi h inc easing
o deposi ion empe a u e.
On he o he hand, adhesion s eng h o pa -
icles and subs a e depends on empe a u e. In-
c easing o empe a u e by hea ing he subs a e in-
c eases he in e ac ion a he in e ace a he nea -
su ace a ea.
I can be no ed a s ong dependence be ween
he ene ge ic pa ame e s o he ilm g ow h (nucle-
a ion) and he mo phology o he p epa ed ilms.
The s a is ical pa ame e s o 3-D su ace ough-
ness analysis also show ha he s a is ical desc ip-
ion o he ilms is in ag eemen wi h he da a ob-
ained by Dallae a e al. [36].
5. Conclusions
The s a is ical pa ame e s o 3-D su ace ough-
ness ha e been used o he unc ional pe o mance
p edic ion and quali y con ol o aluminum ni ide
(AlN) epilaye s p epa ed by magne on spu e ing
on he sapphi e subs a es. These esul s a e also
impo an o unde s anding he nanoscale phe-
nomena a he con ac be ween ough su aces,
such as he con ac a ea, he in e acial sepa a ion,
and he adhesi e and ic ional p ope ies.
Acknowledgemen s
Resea ch desc ibed in he pape was inancially sup-
po ed by he Eu opean Cen e o Excellence CEITEC
CZ.1.05/1.1.00/02.0068, by p ojec Senso , In o ma ion and
Communica ion Sys ems SIX CZ.1.05/2.1.00/03.0072 as well
as by g an FEKT-S-14-2240".
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