Deposit of AlN thin films by nitrogen reactive pulsed laser ablation using an Al target

We report the synthesis of AlN hexagonal thin films by pulsed laser ablation, using Al target in nitrogen ambient over natively-oxidized Si (111) at 600°C. Composition and chemical state were determined by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, while structural properties were investigated using X-ray diffraction. High-resolution XPS spectra present a gradual shift to higher binding energies on the Al_2p peak when nitrogen pressure is incremented, indicating the formation of the AlN compound. At 30 mTorr nitrogen pressure, the Al_2p peak corresponds to AlN, located at 73.1 eV, and the XRD pattern shows a hexagonal phase of AlN. The successful formation of the AlN compound is corroborated by UV-Vis reflectivity measurements.