Structural properties of TiN thin films prepared by RF reactive magnetron sputtering

Abstract

In this present work, thin films of Amorphous Titanium Nitride (TiN) were deposited on suitably cleaned oxidized p-type silicon (SiO2) substrates with few nanometers in thickness by Radio Frequency (R.F.) reactive magnetron sputtering at room temperature. The structural and morphological changes of amorphous TiN thin films was investigated at three different gas ratios such as R[Ar/N2 = 1:1, 1:2 and 1:5] and corresponding films thickness were measured at 14 to 18 nm using profilometer. X-ray diffraction technique (XRD) was used to investigate the crystal structure of the as-deposited films, which confirms that amorphous films have been formed during the deposition. Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) analysis was employed to examine the surface morphology of the films which reveals that sputter deposited particles forming globular aggregates of ∼20 nm diameter; typical of magnetron sputtering deposition. The structural variation, crystallinity and defects of the thin films were studied by Raman spectroscopy.