Premium
Tantalum nitride thin film resistors by low temperature reactive sputtering for plastic electronics
Author(s) -
Scandurra Antonino,
Indelli Giuseppe Francesco,
Pignataro Bruno,
Di Marco Silvestra,
Di Stefano Maria Ausilia,
Ravesi Sebastiano,
Pignataro Salvatore
Publication year - 2008
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/sia.2681
Subject(s) - tantalum nitride , materials science , sputtering , tantalum , thin film , x ray photoelectron spectroscopy , sheet resistance , electrical resistivity and conductivity , sputter deposition , analytical chemistry (journal) , nitride , physical vapor deposition , composite material , grain size , nanotechnology , metallurgy , layer (electronics) , chemistry , nuclear magnetic resonance , electrical engineering , engineering , chromatography , physics
This article describes the fabrication and characterisation of tantalum nitride (TaN) thin film for applications in plastic electronics. Thin films of comparable thickness (50–60 nm) have been deposited by RF‐magnetron‐reactive sputtering at low temperature (100 °C) and their structure and physical (electrical and mechanical) properties have been correlated by using sheet resistance, stress measurements, atomic force microscopy (AFM), XPS, and SIMS. Different film compositions have been obtained by varying the argon to nitrogen flow ratio in the sputtering chamber. XPS showed that 5:1, 2:1 and 1:1 Ar:N 2 ratios gives Ta 2 N, TaN and Ta 3 N 5 phases, respectively. Sheet resistance revealed an increase in resistivity ongoing from the Ta 2 N phase to the Ta 3 N 5 one. The electrical properties of these films are comparable to those obtained by high temperature deposition process already reported in literature. Furthermore, a roughness and grain size modulation of the above films can be obtained by applying an RF negative bias during deposition without affecting the electrical resistivity. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.