Rutherford backscattering & TEM studies of nitrogen, oxygen & argon incorporation in sputter-deposited titanium nitride films

Abstract

Titanium nitride films are incorporated into semiconductor device fabrication to form both contacts and diffusion barriers. These films are often deposited by means of reactive sputtering of a titanium nitride target in an argon atmosphere. During the course of the deposition process, gaseous components may be incorporated into the films resulting in changes in their physical and electrical properties.The stress and resistivity of titanium nitride films have been measured as a function of several processing variables: i) target power, ii) substrate bias, iii) pressure and iv) N2/Ar ratio. The concentration of oxygen, nitrogen and argon and their distribution throughout the films were measured using Rutherford Backscattering Spectroscopy of 2.12MeV helium ions generated in a General Ionex 1.7MV accelerator.