Dielectric behavior of alumina thin film under high DC electric field prepared by sol–gel method

Dielectric behavior of aluminum oxide (Al₂O₃) thin film under high DC electric field is presented and discussed. Aluminum oxide thin films were prepared starting from aluminum isopropoxide as a precursor via a wet chemistry route. Silicon substrates and silica glass substrates were used to deposit the films via spin-coating technique. The deposited films were then annealed under 450°C–700°C for 2–3 h. Dense, crack-free and uniform films were obtained. The thickness of the films is in the range of 200–800 nm. The films obtained are in amorphous state as revealed by the X-ray diffraction patterns. Voltage–Current (V–I) characteristics of the films were used to study the dielectric behavior of the films. Very low leakage current density J under high DC electric field E can be obtained. The breakdown electric field of the films is around 1.2 MV/cm. The V–I characteristics of the films are slightly nonlinear. With platinum as bottom electrode and gold as top electrode, successive breakdown phenomena of the films under high DC electric field were observed. Each breakdown event of the film corresponds to a sharp spike at the V–I plot of the sample. The shape of the breakdown spots of the films are in crater-like with a breakdown channel of diameter around a few micrometers as revealed by SEM images. The top gold electrode at the breakdown spots either splashed out or ripped off from the breakdown spots, which isolated the breakdown spots from rest of the electrode, and made the successive breakdown of the sample possible. The breakdown spots of the sample are concentrated at the edge of the electrode with proportional spacing, which can be easily understood as the edge effect of the parallel capacitor configuration, while the uniform distribution of the breakdown spots signifies that the uniformity of the films thus prepared are satisfied. Breakdown spots apart from the electrode edge can also be observed. Most of such spots associated with ripped-off gold film electrode in large area. We suppose such breakdown took place at higher electric field after the successive breakdown at the electrode edge and the isolation of the edge part from rest of the sample. Higher energy is needed to tear off larger section of the electrode. The breakdown characteristics of the films reported in this work are useful for the further study to enhance the breakdown strength of the film.