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Synthesis of stoichiometric zirconium nitride by d.c. reactive magnetron sputtering pulsed at low frequency: characterization by ESCA, SIMS and electron microprobe
Author(s) -
Dauchot J. P.,
Gouttebaron R.,
Cornelissen D.,
Wautelet M.,
Hecq M.
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
surface and interface analysis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.52
H-Index - 90
eISSN - 1096-9918
pISSN - 0142-2421
DOI - 10.1002/1096-9918(200008)30:1<607::aid-sia860>3.0.co;2-6
Subject(s) - zirconium nitride , electron microprobe , sputtering , analytical chemistry (journal) , stoichiometry , sputter deposition , nitride , zirconium , thin film , microprobe , substrate (aquarium) , chemistry , materials science , layer (electronics) , mineralogy , inorganic chemistry , titanium nitride , nanotechnology , oceanography , organic chemistry , chromatography , geology
In order to raise the deposition rate of ZrN during its synthesis by d.c. reactive magnetron sputtering, we have applied a technique of pulsed discharge current. Zirconium nitride has been deposited in the transition between the metallic and the compound sputtering regime. This transition appears between 1 and 10% of N 2 in the Ar/N 2 gas discharge mixtures. The discharge current has been modulated by a square wave at four frequencies of 5, 2.5, 1.25 and 0.83 Hz. A bias of −200 V was applied to the substrate. The final thickness of the films in each experiment was ∼300 nm. The films have been analysed by electron microprobe, by SEM for cross‐section view and by ESCA and SIMS for depth profiles. It can be concluded that: the deposition rate is enhanced by a factor that seems to depend essentially on the additional power brought by the modulation, and not on the frequency; the films are very compact without any columnar structure; the films are stoichiometric in all the domain of nitrogen concentration examined (in non‐pulsing regime, stoichiometric films can be obtained only in a very narrow domain of concentration); and the depth profiles obtained by ESCA and SIMS prove that the films are very homogeneous and that oxygen is only present in a surface oxide layer (2–5 nm). Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.