← Back to papers
In-vacuum surface flashover of SiN, AlN, and etched SiO2 thin films at micrometre scales
Vijay Kumar, Martin Siegele-Brown, Matthew Aylett, Sebastian Weidt, Winfried Karl Hensinger·November 13, 2025
cond-mat.mtrl-sciQuantum Physics
AI Breakdown
Get a structured breakdown of this paper — what it's about, the core idea, and key takeaways for the field.
Abstract
We investigate the surface flashover voltage threshold for SiO$_2$, SiN, and AlN thin films over micrometre scale lengths. Furthermore, we test the effects of different etching chemistries on SiO$_2$ layers. We find that there is little significant difference between untreated SiO$_2$ samples and those that have been etched with hydrogen fluoride or Transene AlPad Etch 639. SiN and AlN samples performed significantly better than all SiO$_2$ samples giving a 45% increase in surface flashover voltage at a distance of 5 $μ$m with the difference increasing with electrode spacing.