Pulsed-laser deposition of high-purity TiN thin films

摘要

TiN thin films were deposited on glass substrates by KrF excimer laser ablation of Ti in very broad N$-2$/ pressure range with different target-substrate distance at room temperature. The as-deposited TiN thin films were analyzed by x-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy. It is found that normally the as-deposited thin films are the mixture of TiN and Ti and the ratio of TiN to Ti of the as- deposited thin film depends on both the N$-2$/ pressure and the target-substrate distance. The high purity TiN thin films can be obtained only in a very narrow deposition parameter range. A compound parameter (the product of the N$-2$/ pressure and the target-substrate distance) is proposed to optimize deposition for high purity TiN thin films and the possible mechanism is also discussed. It is also revealed that the as-deposited TiN thin films were polycrystalline with an average grain size about 20 nm.