Bias effect of ion-plated zirconium nitride film on Si(100)

Abstract

Zirconium nitride (ZrN) films were deposited on Si(100) substrates using the hollow cathode ion-plated (HCD-IP) technique. The deposition conditions were designed to deposit stoichiometric ZrN films, and the thickness of the film was also controlled. The substrate bias was selected as the controlling parameter ranging from floating to −300 V. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of bias on the structure and properties of ZrN film. The results showed that (111) orientation was the dominant preferred orientation in ZrN films deposited at the bias voltage ranging from 0 to −250 V. The (220) orientation became the preferred orientation for ZrN films deposited at bias voltage of −300 V. Hardness values of ZrN film ranged from 22∼32 GPa. The optimum condition of the negative substrate bias was close to 50 V. At this condition, the specimen showed the lowest resistivity of 56 μΩ cm, the highest packing factor of 0.99, the lowest roughness of 0.66 nm, the highest brilliance of 87.2, and a relatively high hardness of 30.63 GPa. Resistivity increased with increasing bias and with decreasing packing factor. The brilliance increased linearly with increasing packing factor. The relationships between ZrN film properties and bias were successfully developed.