Planarization of flexible tape substrate by solution coating process

In this work, the yttrium oxide($Y_2O_3$) thin films as the buffer layer were prepared by the simple solution coating and reel-to-reel process on an unpolished metal tape substrate. The $Y_2O_3$ thin films were successfully synthesized by the hydrolysis of yttrium acetate. We have studied the improvement of surface roughness with the concentration of solution(0.1 M, 0.4 M, M) and the number of coatings. The planarization by solution coating process is simple in comparison with the existing polishing process, and it is eco-friendly, and has the benefits of low cost process. The thickness of $Y_2O_3$ films was increased with the $Y_2O_3$ concentration in the solution, and the surface became smoother with the number of coating cycles. Using this process, we have achieved 1.2 nm RMS roughness from a starting roughness of over 31 nm on 25 ${\mu}m^2$ area.