Aluminum incorporation in Ti{sub 1-x}Al{sub x}N films studied by x-ray absorption near-edge structure

Journal Article · Mon Jun 01 00:00:00 EDT 2009 · Journal of Applied Physics

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3139296· OSTI ID:21352227

Gago, R ^[1]; Redondo-Cubero, A ^[2]; Endrino, J L; Jimenez, I ^[1]; Shevchenko, N ^[3]

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1. Instituto de Ciencia de Materiales de Madrid, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas, E-28049 Madrid (Spain)
2. Centro de Micro-Analisis de Materiales, Universidad Autonoma de Madrid, E-28049 Madrid (Spain)
3. Institute of Ion Beam Physics and Materials Research, Forschungszentrum Dresden-Rossendorf, PF-510119, D-01314 Dresden (Germany)

The local bonding structure of titanium aluminum nitride (Ti{sub 1-x}Al{sub x}N) films grown by dc magnetron cosputtering with different AlN molar fractions (x) has been studied by x-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES) recorded in total electron yield mode. Grazing incidence x-ray diffraction (GIXRD) shows the formation of a ternary solid solution with cubic structure (c-Ti{sub 1-x}Al{sub x}N) that shrinks with the incorporation of Al and that, above a solubility limit of xapprox0.7, segregation of w-AlN and c-Ti{sub 1-x}Al{sub x}N phases occurs. The Al incorporation in the cubic structure and lattice shrinkage can also be observed using XANES spectral features. However, contrary to GIXRD, direct evidence of w-AlN formation is not observed, suggesting a dominance and surface enrichment of cubic environments. For x>0.7, XANES shows the formation of Ti-Al bonds, which could be related to the segregation of w-AlN. This study shows the relevance of local-order information to assess the atomic structure of Ti{sub 1-x}Al{sub x}N solutions.

• OSTI ID: 21352227
• Journal Information: Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 105, Issue 11; Other Information: DOI: 10.1063/1.3139296; (c) 2009 American Institute of Physics; ISSN 0021-8979
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
ABSORPTION
ABSORPTION SPECTROSCOPY
ALUMINIUM NITRIDES
CHEMICAL BONDS
DEPOSITION
SEGREGATION
SHRINKAGE
SOLID SOLUTIONS
SOLUBILITY
SPUTTERING
THIN FILMS
TITANIUM NITRIDES
X-RAY DIFFRACTION
X-RAY SPECTROSCOPY
ALUMINIUM COMPOUNDS
COHERENT SCATTERING
DIFFRACTION
DISPERSIONS
FILMS
HOMOGENEOUS MIXTURES
MIXTURES
NITRIDES
NITROGEN COMPOUNDS
PNICTIDES
SCATTERING
SOLUTIONS
SORPTION
SPECTROSCOPY
TITANIUM COMPOUNDS
TRANSITION ELEMENT COMPOUNDS