Epitaxial TiN films on sapphire and silicon-on-sapphire by pulsed laser deposition
- North Carolina State Univ., Raleigh, NC (United States). Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering
The authors have investigated epitaxial growth of TiN on sapphire and electronic grade silicon-on-sapphire (SOS) by PLD. A pulsed KrF excimer laser was used to ablate the stoichiometric TiN target in the deposition chamber maintained at a base pressure of 3 {times} 10{sup {minus}7} Torr. Epitaxial growth was achieved at deposition temperatures of 500--700 C. The films were characterized by x-ray diffraction technique, Raman spectroscopy, high resolution electron transmission microscopy and four-point-probe electrical resistivity. The x-ray diffraction and TEM results showed that the TiN films deposited on sapphire (0001) and SOS above 500 C were single crystal in nature. The epitaxial relationship for TiN on sapphire was found to be TiN[111]{parallel}Al{sub 2}O{sub 3}[0001] and in-plane alignment of TiN[{bar 1}10]{parallel}Al{sub 2}O{sub 3}[10{bar 1}0]. In case of growth on SOS, epitaxy of TiN on Si was cube-on-cube and is similar to that of TiN grown on bulk Si substrates. Four-point-probe electrical resistivity measurements showed characteristic metallic behavior of these films as a function of temperature with the lowest value of resistivity of about 20--22 {mu}{Omega}-cm at room temperature. This paper describes the fundamental issues related to epitaxy, defect formation and nitride-oxide interfaces. It is also shown that the TiN films on sapphire and SOS have unique characteristics and are promising for metallization in advanced microelectronics.
- Sponsoring Organization:
- National Science Foundation, Washington, DC (United States)
- OSTI ID:
- 490851
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-951155--; ISBN 1-55899-300-2
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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