Thin biaxially textured TiN films on amorphous substrates prepared by ion-beam assisted pulsed laser deposition

Abstract

Thin TiN films have been grown using reactive ion-beam assisted pulsed laser deposition. The texture development was in situ analyzed using reflection high-energy electron diffraction. Above 300°C a sharp cube textured nucleation layer is observed using an ion beam with energies above 400eV under an angle of 45° relative to the substrate normal. The cube texture is not stable during further ion-beam assisted growth but can be preserved using homoepitaxial growth. Resulting films showed an in-plane orientation of about 13°. The texture development can be described in terms of energy considerations and anisotropic sputter rates.