Coatings of tantalum nitride with various compositions were deposited on silicon substrates using unbalanced reactive magnetron sputtering. An optical emission spectrometer was used to monitor the ratio of tantalum to nitrogen particles in the plasma in real time. The coatings were characterized using x-ray diffraction (XRD), x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and spectroscopic ellipsometry (SE). The primary nitride phases (, , ) in the films were determined using XRD and XPS. The elemental composition was revealed from XPS measurements. The refractive indices were deduced from analysis of the SE data, which were subsequently simulated using the Drude–Lorentz model. The resistivity and electron mean free paths were deduced from this simulation and were correlated to the film composition and microstructure. The resistivity increased whereas the electron mean free path decreased with an increase in nitrogen content or a decrease in grain size.
Skip Nav Destination
Article navigation
September 2004
Research Article|
September 20 2004
Optical properties of tantalum nitride films fabricated using reactive unbalanced magnetron sputtering
S. M. Aouadi;
S. M. Aouadi
a)
Department of Physics, Southern Illinois University
, Carbondale, Illinois 62901-4401
Search for other works by this author on:
M. Debessai
M. Debessai
Department of Physics, Southern Illinois University
, Carbondale, Illinois 62901-4401
Search for other works by this author on:
a)
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed; electronic mail: saouadi@physics.siu.edu
J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A 22, 1975–1979 (2004)
Article history
Received:
April 16 2004
Accepted:
June 07 2004
Citation
S. M. Aouadi, M. Debessai; Optical properties of tantalum nitride films fabricated using reactive unbalanced magnetron sputtering. J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A 1 September 2004; 22 (5): 1975–1979. https://doi.org/10.1116/1.1778410
Download citation file:
Sign in
Don't already have an account? Register
Sign In
You could not be signed in. Please check your credentials and make sure you have an active account and try again.
Sign in via your Institution
Sign in via your InstitutionPay-Per-View Access
$40.00
Citing articles via
Related Content
Structural and mechanical properties of TaZrN films: Experimental and ab initio studies
J. Appl. Phys. (March 2006)
Reconstruction mechanisms of tantalum oxide coatings with low concentrations of silver for high temperature tribological applications
Appl. Phys. Lett. (November 2014)
Unbalanced Terminations on a Shielded‐Pair Line
Journal of Applied Physics (April 2004)
Reactive sputtering with an unbalanced magnetron
Journal of Vacuum Science & Technology A (July 1992)
Breaking of balanced and unbalanced equatorial waves
Chaos (March 2005)