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<p>This study presents a low-temperature plasma-enhanced atomic layer deposition (PEALD) technique for fabricating high-performance, stress-reduced anti-reflective coatings (ARCs). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first extensive study on titanium dioxide (TiO<sub>2</sub>)/silicon dioxide (SiO<sub>2</sub>) stacking with PEALD at such a low temperature of 70&#xa0;°C, which may help to overcome high-temperature deposition issues and mechanical stress for polymer substrates. Despite the presence of impurities in the low-temperature deposited films, the measured extinction coefficient (k &lt; 10<sup>–4</sup>) indicates negligible optical absorption in both TiO<sub>2</sub> and SiO<sub>2</sub> layers, ensuring optimal performance for ARCs. Stress compensation is observed between tensile TiO<sub>2</sub> films (≈ 220&#xa0;MPa) and compressive SiO<sub>2</sub> films (≈ − 35&#xa0;MPa). For multi-layer ARCs, this combination strategy leads to a very low total stress of 48&#xa0;MPa, which is a big step forward for stress control in optical coatings. This stress-reduction effect remains effective even when the thickness difference reaches up to 9.6%. This consistency has been demonstrated in real-world applications, where achieving an ideal level of thinness can be challenging. The optimized process at 150 W plasma power produces high-quality optics with an average reflectivity of 0.35% in the visible range while maintaining low stress, a significant achievement in low temperature deposited optical coatings. The choice of common, cost-effective materials like SiO<sub>2</sub> and TiO<sub>2</sub> makes this approach easily scalable for industrial use and can see the future of manufacturing ARCs for various applications. These films are characterized by a low density of defects and an amorphous structure with the smoothness of their surface being close to one atomic monolayer (≈ 0.2&#xa0;nm), which indicates their high optical quality, comparable to films deposited at high temperatures. The low-temperature PEALD presented in this work not only pushes the boundary in advanced optical coatings but also enlarges the capacity in coating temperature-sensitive substrates and complex 3D structures. This innovation paves the way for applications in bendable electronics, high-performance optical components, and next generation display devices.</p>

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Development of an innovative low-temperature PEALD process for stress-compensated TiO2 and SiO2 multilayer anti-reflective coatings

  • 期刊论文

  • 出版模式：

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  • 发表日期：

    2025年3月24日

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  • Duy Thanh Cu,
  • Kuan-Yu Ko,
  • Wen-Hao Cho,
  • Chao-Te Lee,
  • Meng-Chi Li,
  • Chien-Cheng Kuo

摘要

This study presents a low-temperature plasma-enhanced atomic layer deposition (PEALD) technique for fabricating high-performance, stress-reduced anti-reflective coatings (ARCs). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first extensive study on titanium dioxide (TiO2)/silicon dioxide (SiO2) stacking with PEALD at such a low temperature of 70 °C, which may help to overcome high-temperature deposition issues and mechanical stress for polymer substrates. Despite the presence of impurities in the low-temperature deposited films, the measured extinction coefficient (k < 10–4) indicates negligible optical absorption in both TiO2 and SiO2 layers, ensuring optimal performance for ARCs. Stress compensation is observed between tensile TiO2 films (≈ 220 MPa) and compressive SiO2 films (≈ − 35 MPa). For multi-layer ARCs, this combination strategy leads to a very low total stress of 48 MPa, which is a big step forward for stress control in optical coatings. This stress-reduction effect remains effective even when the thickness difference reaches up to 9.6%. This consistency has been demonstrated in real-world applications, where achieving an ideal level of thinness can be challenging. The optimized process at 150 W plasma power produces high-quality optics with an average reflectivity of 0.35% in the visible range while maintaining low stress, a significant achievement in low temperature deposited optical coatings. The choice of common, cost-effective materials like SiO2 and TiO2 makes this approach easily scalable for industrial use and can see the future of manufacturing ARCs for various applications. These films are characterized by a low density of defects and an amorphous structure with the smoothness of their surface being close to one atomic monolayer (≈ 0.2 nm), which indicates their high optical quality, comparable to films deposited at high temperatures. The low-temperature PEALD presented in this work not only pushes the boundary in advanced optical coatings but also enlarges the capacity in coating temperature-sensitive substrates and complex 3D structures. This innovation paves the way for applications in bendable electronics, high-performance optical components, and next generation display devices.