The structural properties of NbN thin films have been investigated as a function of vacuum and rapid thermal annealing at temperatures to 1200thinsp;deg;C. Xhyphen;ray diffraction data were analyzed using a leasthyphen;squares fit to the cubic and monoclinic structures. Vacuum annealing resulted in a multiphase material with a reduced transition temperature for annealing temperatures above 900thinsp;deg;C. The rapidhyphen;thermalhyphen;annealed films showed improved electrical characteristics and reduced compressive stress inferred from the monoclinic distortion for all annealing temperatures. NbN thin films sputtered with a methane/nitrogen reactive gas ratio of approximately 0.3 exhibited a slightly distorted cubic lattice and low compressive stress compared to other films sputtered in different reactive gas mixtures. The higherhyphen;temperature rapidhyphen;thermalhyphen;annealed films have structural and electrical characteristics desirable for device fabrication.
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