Effect of nitrogen flow rate on the properties of TiN film deposited by e beam evaporation technique

In this work, titanium nitride (TiN) films have been deposited by e beam evaporation technique on Si/SiO2 (1 0 0) substrates at room temperature. The influence of nitrogen flow rate (N2 = 0, 4, 6, 8 and 10 sccm (standard cubic centimeter per minute)) on the structural, morphological and electrical properties of the TiN films has been studied. The deposited TiN films have been characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), XPS (X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy), FESEM (Field emission scanning electron microscopy) and four-point probe resistivity measurement techniques. XRD patterns reveal FCC symmetry of the film with (1 1 1) preferred orientations for Ti film (N2 = 0 sccm) and (2 0 0) preferred orientations for TiN film (N2 = 4, 6, 8 and 10 sccm), respectively. The lattice parameters for TiN films are found to increase from 4.237 Å to 4.239 Å with the increase in nitrogen flow rate. The presence of different phases such as TiN, TiON and TiO2 were confirmed by XPS analysis. The FESEM images of the TiN films showed a smooth morphology with columnar grain structures. The grain size of the TiN films was found to increase as the nitrogen flow rate was increased from 4 to 10 sccm. The electrical resistivity measurement showed that the resistivity of the film decreased from 333 μΩ cm to 111 μΩ cm on increasing nitrogen flow rate from 4 to10 sccm.