Modelling the growth of transition metal nitrides

Abstract

Due to its unique physical properties, and its wide use in industrial applications, the growth of TiN has been extensively investigated and reported in literature. Since the final film properties are known to be influenced by the film microstructure and crystallographic orientation, much effort has been made to understand the fundamental phenomena determining the film growth process. However, several controversial growth models have been published. As an attempt to gain more insights in the growth of TiN and to have a better control on the development of the microstructure and crystallographic orientation, a general growth model is discussed. It will be shown that this growth model enables to understand the influence of several deposition parameters such as the film thickness, ion-to-atom ratio, and N2-flow on the resulting microstructure and orientation of TiN films deposited by reactive magnetron sputtering.