Abstract
The physical properties including the mechanical, optical and electrical properties of Ti nitrides and silicides are very attractive for many applications such as protective coatings, barriers of diffusion, interconnects and so on. The simultaneous formation of nitrides and silicides in Ti films improves their electrical properties. Ti films coated on Si wafers are heated at various temperatures and processed in expanding microwave (Ar-N2-H2) plasma for various treatment durations. The Ti-Si interface is the centre of Si diffusion into the Ti lattice and the formation of various Ti silicides, while the Ti surface is the centre of N diffusion into the Ti film and the formation of Ti nitrides. The growth of silicides and nitrides gives rise to two competing processes which are thermodynamically and kinetically controlled. The effect of thickness on the kinetics of the formation of silicides is identified. The metastable C49TiSi2 phase is the main precursor of the stable C54TiSi2 phase, which crystallizes at about 600 °C, while TiN crystallizes at about 800 °C
Highlights
The very attractive physical and chemical properties of titanium nitrides (TiN) make them very efficient for a great number of applications [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11]
The aim of this work is to study both the formation of titanium silicides and nitrides in titanium thin films heated at various temperatures and processed in (Ar-N2 -H2 ) plasma generated by a microwave discharge of 2.45 GHz for various treatment durations
Titanium silicides and nitrides have been successfully formed in Ti thin films heated at 400–800 ◦ C and exposed to (Ar-N2 -H2 ) plasma in an expanding microwave plasma reactor
Summary
The very attractive physical and chemical properties of titanium nitrides (TiN) make them very efficient for a great number of applications [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11]. TiN exhibits a high melting point of 3220 K greater than those of ceramic materials such as Al2 O3 or Si3 N4. Owing to their extreme hardness, high thermodynamic stability, low friction constant, high wear and corrosion resistance, they are used as protective coatings in many industries. Their beautiful golden colours find applications in decorative coatings. Their optical properties make them very interesting for applications in solar cells, antireflective coatings, optical filters and plasmonics.
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