Microstructural and Electrical Resistivity of TiN Electrode Films Prepared by Direct Current (DC) Reactive Magnetron Sputtering

Abstract

In this study, the crystal structure as well as electron transport of TiN thin films were evaluated. We used DC reactive magnetron sputtering to deposit a thin layer of polycrystalline titanium nitride (TiN) on a Si (100) substrate starting from elemental Ti in a nitrogen atmosphere. The influence of nitrogen flow rate on the crystal structure, surface morphology, and electron transport of TiN were investigated systematically. It was found that the preferred orientation and conductivity of TiN thin films exhibit strong nitrogen flow rate dependence. The preferred orientation changed from (111) to (200) initially and then changed back to (111) as the nitrogen flow rate increases. However, an increase in the (200) phase leads to higher conductivity and lower surface roughness. At the optimized deposition conditions, ultra-thin (around 30 nm) TiN thin films with a low resistivity of 101.8 μC·cm and a surface roughness of less than or equal to 0.51 nm were obtained. These superior performances, along with low running costs, suggest that TiN thin films have great potential for use as electrodes in microelectronic devices.