Pulsed laser deposition of TiN thin film on silicon (100) at different temperatures

Abstract

Titanium nitride (TiN) thin films were deposited on hydrogen-terminated silicon (100) substrates by pulsed laser ablation of a ceramic TiN target (purity: 99.9%). A KrF excimer laser with a wavelength of 248 nm and a pulse duration of 23 ns was used as the laser source. The vacuum chamber was maintained at a pressure of 10-5 Torr during the deposition and the substrate temperature ranged from room temperature to 600 °C. X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, nanoindentation, and surface profile measurements were performed to characterize the properties of the deposited thin films. The dependence of the hardness, stoichiometry, and crystallinity of the thin films on substrate temperature was investigated. X-ray diffraction measurement showed that the full width at half maximum of the TiN (200) line reached 0.24° at 600 °C. The hardness of the thin films deposited at 600 °C was found to be as high as 26 GPa. The influence of the substrate temperature on the electronic properties of the deposited thin films was studied by Raman spectroscopy. Roughness of the deposited thin films was also investigated. © 1999 Laser Institute of America.