Pulsed laser deposition of TiN thin film on silicon (100) at different temperatures

Titanium nitride (TiN) thin films were deposited on hydrogen-terminated sil icon (100) substrates by pulsed laser ablation of a ceramic TIN target (pur ity: 99.9%). A KrF excimer laser with a wavelength of 248 nm and a pulse du ration of 23 ns was used as the laser source. The vacuum chamber was mainta ined at a pressure of 10(-5) Torr during the deposition and the substrate t emperature ranged from room temperature to 600 degrees C, X-ray diffraction , Raman spectroscopy, nanoindentation, and surface profile measurements wer e performed to characterize the properties of the deposited thin films. The dependence of the hardness, stoichiometry, and crystallinity of the thin f ilms on substrate temperature was investigated. X-ray diffraction measureme nt showed that the full width at half maximum of the TiN (200) line reached 0.24 degrees at 600 degrees C. The hardness of the thin films deposited at 600 degrees C was found to be as high as 26 GPa. The influence of the subs trate temperature on the electronic properties of the deposited thin films was studied by Raman spectroscopy. Roughness of the deposited thin films wa s also investigated. (C) 1999 Laser Institute of America. [S1042-346X(99)00 204-1].