Pulsed laser deposition of novel nitride solid solution films NixTi1−xNy on MgO(0 0 1)

A novel nitride solid solution, NixTi1−xNy (0≤x≤0.31, 0.59≤y≤1) was grown on MgO(0 0 1) using a pulsed laser deposition (PLD) method combined with RF nitrogen radical irradiation. Compressed disks made of mixtures of titanium hydride and nickel metal were used as the PLD targets. Simple Ti–Ni alloyed targets gave no crystalline nitride. High-resolution X-ray diffraction reciprocal space mapping revealed that the deposited films were epitaxially grown on MgO(0 0 1) and that the lattice of the films shrunk to fit the lattice of MgO(0 0 1) in the plane. The lattice constant perpendicular to the plane decreased linearly as the Ni content increased up to x=0.31, demonstrating the incorporation of Ni atoms into the crystal structure. These thin films were metallic conductors. X-ray photoelectron spectra showed that the substitution of Ti for Ni brought about the formation of large amounts of nitrogen vacancies.