Plasma-assisted atomic layer deposition of TiN monitored by in situ spectroscopic ellipsometry

In situ spectroscopic ellipsometry has been employed to determine the properties of titanium nitride (TiN) films during plasma-assisted atomic layer deposition by alternating $TiCl4$ precursor dosing and $H2–N2$ plasma exposure. Besides monitoring the film thickness when optimizing the half reactions, it is shown that spectroscopic ellipsometry is a very valuable tool for in situ studies of (air-sensitive) film properties such as resistivity, and for investigating the nucleation phase during initial film growth.