Investigation on the morphology and surface free energy of the AlGaN thin film

The purpose of this paper is to analyze surface properties of AlGaN thin film produced using thermionic vacuum arc technique. Thermionic vacuum arc is an alternative deposition technique for GaN thin films that produces in a very short production time for GaN-based solid-state applications. XRD results showed that AlGaN thin film with cubic crystal structure on a amorphous glass was grown. Conductivity type of AlGaN thin film is determined as p-type by hot-probe method which is a very simple method. The surface morphology was analyzed and discussed using field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and atomic force microscopy. The contact angles in four different testing liquid and surface free energy of the AlGaN thin film were investigated by optical tensiometer.