Formation of hafnium nitride films by medium-energy ion-beam-assisted deposition

Hafnium nitride films were formed by evaporation of hafnium atoms from an e lectron beam evaporator under simultaneous nitrogen ion bombardment. The ra tio of impinging ions to neutrals has been varied, in order to study its in fluence on elemental and phase composition. The composition of the films wa s studied by using Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy; their phase comp osition was examined by X-ray diffraction. It is shown that layers with the 1:1 stoichiometry of Hf:N can be formed under ion irradiation, although ha fnium has a great affinity Ld oxygen. Among the nitrides known, only the cu bic (B1) HfN phase is formed. No other stoichiometries were found. The text ure of the HM films is strongly influenced by the irradiation intensity and is changed from (111) over randomly oriented to (100). (C) 1999 Elsevier S cience S.A. All rights reserved.