Nickel oxide and molybdenum oxide thin films for infrared imaging prepared by biased target ion-beam deposition

Vanadium oxide (VOx) thin films have been intensively used as sensing materials for microbolometers. VOx thin films have good bolometric properties such as low resistivity, high negative temperature coefficient of resistivity (TCR) and low 1/f noise. However, the processing controllability of VOx fabrication is difficult due to the multiple valence states of vanadium. In this study, metal oxides such as nickel oxide (NiOx) and molybdenum oxide (MoOx) thin films have been investigated as possible new microbolometer sensing materials with improved process controllability. Nickel oxide and molybdenum oxide thin films were prepared by reactive sputtering of nickel and molybdenum metal targets in a biased target ion beam deposition tool. In this deposition system, the Ar+ ion energy (typically lower than 25 eV) and the target bias voltage can be independently controlled since ions are remotely generated. A residual gas analyzer (RGA) is used to precisely control the oxygen partial pressure. A real-time spectroscopic ellipsometry is used to monitor the evolution of microstructure and properties of deposited oxides during growth and post-deposition. The properties of deposited oxide thin films depend on processing parameters. The resistivity of the NiOx thin films is in the range of 0.5 to approximately 100 ohm-cm with a TCR from -2%/K to -3.3%/K, where the resistivity of MoOx is between 3 and 2000 ohm-cm with TCR from -2.1%/K to -3.2%/K. We also report on the thermal stability of these deposited oxide thin films.