X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy depth profiling of as-grown and annealed titanium nitride thin films

Monzer Maarouf, Muhammad Baseer Haider*, Qasem Ahmed Drmosh, Mogtaba B. Mekki

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

9 Scopus citations

Abstract

Titanium nitride thin films were grown on Si(001) and fused silica substrates by radio frequency reactive magnetron sputtering. Post-growth annealing of the films was performed at different temperatures from 300 °C to 700 °C in nitrogen ambient. Films annealed at temperatures above 300 °C exhibit higher surface roughness, smaller grain size and better crystallinity compared to the as-grown film. Bandgap of the films decreased with the increase in the annealing temperature. Hall effect measurements revealed that all the films exhibit n-type conductivity and had high carrier concentration, which also increased slightly with the increase in the annealing temperature. Adetailed depth profile study of the chemical composition of the film was performed by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy confirming the formation of Ti-N bond and revealing the presence of chemisorbed oxygen in the films. Annealing in nitrogen ambient results in increased nitrogen vacancies and non-stoichiometric TiN films.

Original languageEnglish
Article number239
Pages (from-to)1-11
Number of pages11
JournalCrystals
Volume11
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - Mar 2021

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
Funding:Wewould liketoacknowledge the DeanshipofScientificResearch atKingFahd University of Petroleum and Minerals for the financial support for this work through internal research grant # IN131056.

Funding Information:
We would like to acknowledge the Deanship of Scientific Research at King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals for the financial support for this work through internal research grant # IN131056.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.

Keywords

  • Atomic force microscopy
  • Magnetron sputtering
  • Thin film semiconductors
  • Titanium nitride
  • X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Chemical Engineering (all)
  • Materials Science (all)
  • Condensed Matter Physics
  • Inorganic Chemistry

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