Post-deposition annealing study of tantalum nitride thin-film resistors

Miscellaneous · Sun Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 1989

OSTI ID:6106038

Au, Chi Lok

With the present integrated circuit design, the use of hybrid metallic thin film resistor networks leads to more design flexibility, economical chip area consumption, reduced processing steps, higher precision and stability for the integrated circuits. To meet the hybrid circuit requirements, the thin film resistors must have high sheet resistivity for compact design, chemical and mechanical stability, and precise resistance which is temperature independent. The nickel-chrome (NiCr) alloy, with its very low temperature coefficient of resistance (TCR), is currently used in the industry. The non-linear TCR behavior and the ease of hydrolytic dissociation of NiCr give place to a more stable material, such as tantalum nitride. Due to technical difficulties in heating the substrate to a high temperature during deposition, which is the controlling parameter for achieving the stable Ta{sub 2}N structure, post deposition annealing becomes the central theme for this project. Preliminary TCR studies of the reactive sputtered tantalum nitride thin films shows that films with sheet resistivity less than 60 ohm/sq. can be air annealed to improve the TCR to less than 30 ppm/{degree}C in magnitude. The deposition parameters may influence the annealing conditions. For films with higher sheet resistivity, high vacuum annealing must be used for the TCR improvement. The TCR can be adjusted to an almost zero value by the combination of annealing temperature and time. With the electrical stability and chemically inertness in water and acids, tantalum nitride is likely to become a major thin-film resistor material in the industry. A systematic study of this thin film material is conducted, covering both electrical and structural properties.

• Research Organization: State Univ. of New York, Buffalo, NY (USA)
• OSTI ID: 6106038
• Resource Relation: Other Information: Thesis (Ph. D.)
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

42 ENGINEERING
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
INTEGRATED CIRCUITS
DESIGN
TANTALUM NITRIDES
ANNEALING
ELECTRIC CONDUCTIVITY
COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS
FABRICATION
PRODUCTION
RADIATION HARDENING
RESISTORS
TEMPERATURE DEPENDENCE
THIN FILMS
ELECTRICAL EQUIPMENT
ELECTRICAL PROPERTIES
ELECTRONIC CIRCUITS
EQUIPMENT
FILMS
HARDENING
HEAT TREATMENTS
MICROELECTRONIC CIRCUITS
NITRIDES
NITROGEN COMPOUNDS
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
PHYSICAL RADIATION EFFECTS
PNICTIDES
RADIATION EFFECTS
REFRACTORY METAL COMPOUNDS
TANTALUM COMPOUNDS
TRANSITION ELEMENT COMPOUNDS
426000* - Engineering- Components
Electron Devices & Circuits- (1990-)
360201 - Ceramics
Cermets
& Refractories- Preparation & Fabrication
360204 - Ceramics
Cermets
& Refractories- Physical Properties