EVOLUTION OF TEXTURE AT GROWTH OF TITANIUM NITRIDE FILMS PREPARED BY PHOTON AND ION-BEAM-ASSISTED DEPOSITION

The effect of the him thickness on the evolution of texture of polycry stalline titanium nitride films grown by photon and ion beam assisted deposition has been investigated. The layers were deposited in high-va cuum on (111)Si with the N-ion energy constant at 2 keV and the incide nt ion/titanium flux ratio constant at 0.66 ions/atom. X-ray pole figu re measurements show that the biaxial {001} texture is changed to the biaxial {111} texture with an increase of the film thickness. The text ure evolution is explained by the existence of open channeling directi ons and the minimization of the elastic deformation energy. (C) 1997 A merican Institute of Physics.