Crystal Structure and Morphology of Nanocrystalline TiN Thin Films

Abstract

Titanium nitride (TiN) thin films were grown employing radiofrequency (RF) magnetron sputtering under varying nitrogen gas flow rates. Characterization of the grown materials was done by grazing-incidence x-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy. The results indicate that the crystal structure and texture of the grown TiN layers are dependent on the ratio of nitrogen to argon in the reactive gas mixture during deposition. TiN coatings initially showed (111) preferred orientation, then mixed (111) and (002) texturing, followed by completely (002) texturing with increasing nitrogen content. The analyses indicate that the nitrogen incorporation into the layers and the associated chemistry determine the texturing and lattice parameters.