Structural and dielectric properties of boron doped and un-doped mullite thin films

• Main Authors: Islam, Shumaila, Riaz, Saira, Abdul Rahman, Rosly, Naseem, Shahzad, Ottoman, Zulkafli
• Format: Conference or Workshop Item
• Published: 2013
• Subjects: Q Science
• Online Access: http://eprints.utm.my/id/eprint/38529/
• Institution: Universiti Teknologi Malaysia

A sol–gel technique being simple, low cost and application oriented has been used to synthesize doped and un-doped mullite sols. These films have been spin-coated onto copper substrates. Effect of boron doping on the transformation kinetics of mullite was studied by preparing two sols with ratio Al/Si/B = 3/1/0 and Al/Si/B = 3/1/0.5. Surface morphology of thermally stable films showed uniformity in doped and un-doped samples. X-ray diffractometer results revealed orthorhombic mullite formation from both sols at a temperature of 500 �C for un-doped and at 350 �C for doped mullite films. Small crystallite size *11 nm and low dielectric value *5.84 (at 3 MHz) were observed in boron-doped films. Un-doped mullite films also showed relatively low dielectric constant, *6.36, as compared to the previously reported values. The stoichiometry of films was confirmed by EDX and spark source mass spectrometry.