Nucleation and growth of chemical vapor deposition TiN films on Si (100) as studied by total reflection x-ray fluorescence, atomic force microscopy, and Auger electron spectroscopy

Abstract

We report for the first time the characteristics of the early growth of chemical vapor deposition (CVD) TiN films on Si (100) in the surface reaction limited regime, using total reflection x-ray fluorescence (TXRF), atomic force microscopy (AFM), and Auger electron spectroscopy (AES). Small amounts of CVD TiN from TiCl4 and NH3 reactants were deposited on Si (100) at 650 °C using a rapid thermal CVD system, at a total pressure of 155 mTorr. We examined these small amounts of CVD TiN by introducing TXRF as a tool for observing the initial stages of growth, and AFM for characterizing changes in the overall surface morphology. The nucleation and growth of the resulting CVD TiN films as determined by TXRF, AFM, and AES will be discussed.