Qy. Zhang et al., PREPARATION, STRUCTURE AND PROPERTIES OF TAN AND TAC FILMS OBTAINED BY ION-BEAM-ASSISTED DEPOSITION, Nuclear instruments & methods in physics research. Section B, Beam interactions with materials and atoms, 127, 1997, pp. 664-668
Tantalum nitride and tantalum carbide films were prepared by the metho
d of ion beam assisted deposition (IBAD). The results of transmission
electron microscopy (TEM) and X-ray diffraction showed that the films
are all fee structures and the grain sizes in the films are very small
(about 10 to 20 nm). The composition depth profile and chemical bindin
g character of films were determined by Auger electron spectroscopy (A
ES) and X-ray photo-electron spectroscopy (XPS). Measurements of film
properties, such as microhardness, adhesion of film to substrate, and
surface resistance, were made on a microhardness tester, a scratch tes
ter and a bridge of resistance measurement with four-pole probe, respe
ctively. The residual stress, dislocation density and dislocation dist
ribution in the films were calculated by a method called X-ray diffrac
tion line profile analysis developed by Wilkens and Wang et al. Accord
ing to the elastic theory of dislocations, the microhardness of films
was also calculated by using the parameters of dislocations obtained.