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AlN thin films were grown by the Atomic Layer E p i t q (ALE) technique employing AIC13 and NH3 as precursors. A growth rate of 1.0 &cycle was obtained in experiments carried out at 500 "C. The films deposited onto soda lime glass substrates were polycrystalline exhibiting a strong preferred orientation in the [OOll direction. X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) measurements revealed that the films contained oxygen and chlorine as impurities.

AlN thin films were grown by an alternate supply of trimethyl aluminum (TMA) and ammonia, i.e., according to the processing scheme of the atomic layer epitaxy (ALE) technique. In contrast with the ideal ALE process, no saturation of the growth rate was observed with increasing TMA pulse time. In addition, with fixed pulse times the growth rate was strongly temperature dependent. These observations were interpreted in terms of a self-decomposition of "MA. Despite the absence of selflimitation, the films were uniform and showed good structural quality. The deposition temperatures were remarkably low, 325425 "C, compared with CVD processes employing the same precursors. Time-of-flight elastic recoil detection analysis (TOF-ERDA) and nuclear resonance broadening (NRB) measurements indicated that the films contained hydrogen, carbon, and oxygen impurities.

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