IUVSTA 15th International Vacuum Congress (IVC-15), AVS 48th International Symposium (AVS-48), 11th International Conference on Solid Surfaces (ICSS-11)
    Thin Films Tuesday Sessions
       Session TF-TuA

Paper TF-TuA6
Reactive Sputter Deposition of Tungsten Nitride Thin Films

Tuesday, October 30, 2001, 3:40 pm, Room 123

Session: Growth and Properties of Thin Films
Presenter: C. Baker, University of Delaware
Authors: C. Baker, University of Delaware
S.I. Shah, University of Delaware
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Tungsten nitride (WN@sub x@) thin films were deposited by reactive sputtering in an Ar/N@sub 2@ atmosphere. The partial pressure of nitrogen in the sputtering gas was varied from 2-50% and the effect of the N@sub 2@ concentration variation on the film properties was investigated. Through examination of cathode current and voltage during the film growth, it is determined that cathode poisoning occurs when the nitrogen concentration in the chamber is increased above 2-5%. This poisoning reduces the film growth rate. Films were characterized by X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy. XPS analyses show that the films are composed of ~30% nitrogen when the nitrogen concentration in the chamber is greater than 10%. X-ray diffraction analyses confirm that the predominant phase in the reactively sputtered films is W@sub 2@N, with the characteristic (111) peak found near 2@theta@=37.7°. Slight shifts in this peak position are thought to be the result of nitrogen incorporation in interstitial positions, thus distorting the lattice. A post-deposition anneal was carried out which shifted the peak back to its characteristic position confirming that the extra nitrogen was indeed accommodated as interstitial.