Piezoelectric Aluminium Scandium Nitride (AlScN) Thin Films: Material Development and Applications in Microdevices
A special issue of Micromachines (ISSN 2072-666X). This special issue belongs to the section "D:Materials and Processing".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (19 June 2022) | Viewed by 45369
Special Issue Editor
2. Institute of Solid State Electronics (IFE), the Faculty of Electrical and Computer Engineering, TU Dresden, 01062 Dresden, Germany
Interests: material science; physical vapor deposition; magnetron sputter epitaxy; III-nitrides; thin films; piezoelectric AlN and AlScN; electroacoustic applications
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Not so long ago, aluminium scandium nitride (AlScN) emerged as a material that possesses superior properties as compared to aluminium nitride (AlN). Substituting Al by Sc in AlN leads to a dramatic increase in piezoelectric coefficient as well as electromechanical coupling. This discovery finally allowed us to overcome the limitations of AlN thin films in various piezoelectric applications while still benefiting from all the advantages of the parent material system, such as high temperature stability, CMOS compatibility, and good mechanical properties.
AlScN allows for enhanced performance of RF filters where bulk acoustic wave (BAW), or surface acoustic wave (SAW) resonators are used. Additionally, energy harvesting and sensing applications can benefit as well. Higher pyroelectric coefficients allow new advances in, for example, infra-red (IR) detectors. Recent progress in growing this material by MOCVD and MBE has opened new prospects in high-frequency and -power electronics, such as high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs). Finally, AlScN is the first wurtzite III-nitride where ferroelectric switching was observed a few years ago, opening another exiting research field with many possible applications in semiconductor memories as well as additional switching functionality to applications where piezoelectric materials are already in use.
We invite all researchers working with this exciting and versatile material to join our Special Issue fully focused on AlScN. Let us work together and finally provide the scientific community with a highly visible, multidisciplinary open access collection of recent advances in understanding the material itself as well as unlocking its full potential in microdevices.
The Special Issue seeks contributions addressing:
- Fundamentals, physics, theory, and modeling of AlScN: material and devices
- Growth and characterization of AlScN thin films
- Design, fabrication, and performance of AlScN microdevices
- Novel and niche applications for AlScN
Dr. Agnė Žukauskaitė
Guest Editor
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Micromachines is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- aluminium scandium nitride
- piezoelectric thin films
- ferroelectric switching
- transducers and actuators
- microfabrication
- piezoelectric microdevices
- MEMS
Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue
- Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
- Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
- Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
- External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
- e-Book format: Special Issues with more than 10 articles can be published as dedicated e-books, ensuring wide and rapid dissemination.
Further information on MDPI's Special Issue polices can be found here.