The authors investigate sputtering of a Ti3SiC2 compound target at temperatures ranging from RT (no applied external heating) to 970 °C as well as the influence of the sputtering power at 850 °C for the deposition of Ti3SiC2 films on Al2O3(0001) substrates. Elemental composition obtained from time-of-flight energy elastic recoil detection analysis shows an excess of carbon in all films, which is explained by differences in the angular distribution between C, Si, and Ti, where C scatters the least during sputtering. The oxygen content is 2.6 at. % in the film deposited at RT and decreases with increasing deposition temperature, showing that higher temperatures favor high purity films. Chemical bonding analysis by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy shows C–Ti and Si–C bonding in the Ti3SiC2 films and Si–Si bonding in the Ti3SiC2 compound target. X-ray diffraction reveals that the phases Ti3SiC2, Ti4SiC3, and Ti7Si2C5 can be deposited from a Ti3SiC2 compound target at substrate temperatures above 850 °C and with the growth of TiC and the Nowotny phase Ti5Si3Cx at lower temperatures. High-resolution scanning transmission electron microscopy shows epitaxial growth of Ti3SiC2, Ti4SiC3, and Ti7Si2C5 on TiC at 970 °C. Four-point probe resistivity measurements give values in the range ∼120 to ∼450 μΩ cm and with the lowest values obtained for films containing Ti3SiC2, Ti4SiC3, and Ti7Si2C5.
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March 2019
Research Article|
January 17 2019
Compositional dependence of epitaxial Tin+1SiCn MAX-phase thin films grown from a Ti3SiC2 compound target
Martin Magnuson;
Martin Magnuson
a)
Thin Film Physics Division, Department of Physics, Chemistry, and Biology (IFM), Linköping University
, SE-581 83 Linköping, Sweden
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Lina Tengdelius;
Lina Tengdelius
Thin Film Physics Division, Department of Physics, Chemistry, and Biology (IFM), Linköping University
, SE-581 83 Linköping, Sweden
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Grzegorz Greczynski
;
Grzegorz Greczynski
Thin Film Physics Division, Department of Physics, Chemistry, and Biology (IFM), Linköping University
, SE-581 83 Linköping, Sweden
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Fredrik Eriksson;
Fredrik Eriksson
Thin Film Physics Division, Department of Physics, Chemistry, and Biology (IFM), Linköping University
, SE-581 83 Linköping, Sweden
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Jens Jensen;
Jens Jensen
Thin Film Physics Division, Department of Physics, Chemistry, and Biology (IFM), Linköping University
, SE-581 83 Linköping, Sweden
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Jun Lu;
Jun Lu
Thin Film Physics Division, Department of Physics, Chemistry, and Biology (IFM), Linköping University
, SE-581 83 Linköping, Sweden
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Mattias Samuelsson;
Mattias Samuelsson
Thin Film Physics Division, Department of Physics, Chemistry, and Biology (IFM), Linköping University
, SE-581 83 Linköping, Sweden
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Per Eklund;
Per Eklund
Thin Film Physics Division, Department of Physics, Chemistry, and Biology (IFM), Linköping University
, SE-581 83 Linköping, Sweden
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Lars Hultman;
Lars Hultman
Thin Film Physics Division, Department of Physics, Chemistry, and Biology (IFM), Linköping University
, SE-581 83 Linköping, Sweden
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Hans Högberg
Hans Högberg
Thin Film Physics Division, Department of Physics, Chemistry, and Biology (IFM), Linköping University
, SE-581 83 Linköping, Sweden
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a)
Electronic mail: martin.magnuson@liu.se
J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A 37, 021506 (2019)
Article history
Received:
October 10 2018
Accepted:
January 02 2019
Citation
Martin Magnuson, Lina Tengdelius, Grzegorz Greczynski, Fredrik Eriksson, Jens Jensen, Jun Lu, Mattias Samuelsson, Per Eklund, Lars Hultman, Hans Högberg; Compositional dependence of epitaxial Tin+1SiCn MAX-phase thin films grown from a Ti3SiC2 compound target. J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A 1 March 2019; 37 (2): 021506. https://doi.org/10.1116/1.5065468
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