Implantation of Nitrogen into Ti/Al, Ni/Ti, and Ni/Al Bilayers

Abstract

ABSTRACTTi/Al, Ni/Ti, and Ni/Al bilayers were produced by evaporation on a Si substrate. The thicknesses of the composing layers were in the 50–200 nm range. The as-evaporated bilayers were implanted with doses of 0.4–2.5 · 1017 of 15N ions/cm2. The 15N energy was chosen so that the calculated projected range was either in the middle of the top Ni layer, or coincided with the interface between the metal layers. The implantation temperature was varied in the range from 25 °C to 245 °C. The 15N depth profiles as measured with nuclear reaction analysis (NRA) were found to have the expected Gaussian shape for the Ti/Al bilayers. However, in the Ni/Ti and Ni/Al layers very asymmetric 15N profiles were observed, with a major fraction of N atoms in the Ti or Al layer, and a minor fraction in the Ni layer. The N concentrations in the Al or Ti layers were found to be almost constant. A massive redistribution of N atoms must have taken place in all three metals during the implantations, to form the observed profiles. We speculate that this remarkable phenomenon, which occurs even below 80°C, can be explained by interstitial diffusion of N atoms and subsequent trapping in Ti or Al, which have a high chemical affinity for nitrogen. The N atoms remaining in the Ni layer after implantation were found to migrate out of this layer during annealing at temperatures ≥250°C.