To clarify the underlying mechanisms that cause the preferred orientation in TiN films, we investigated the evolution with the thickness of the texture, surface morphology, and residual stress in TiN thin films deposited by dual ion beam sputtering. The films, with thickness h ranging from 50to300nm, were grown on oxidized Si substrates using a primary Ar ion beam accelerated under 1.2kV and different voltages Va of the (Ar+N2) assistance beam: 25, 50, and 150V. The influence of temperature was also investigated by varying the substrate temperature Ts (25–300°C) during growth or by performing a postdeposition annealing. X-ray diffraction (XRD) as well as transmission electron microscopy were used to study the microstructure and changes of texture with thickness h, while x-ray reflectivity and atomic force microscopy measurements were performed to determine the surface roughness. Residual stresses were measured by XRD and analyzed using a triaxial stress model. The crystallite group method was used for a strain determination of crystallites having different fiber axis directions, i.e., when a mixed texture exists. The surface roughness is found to increase with Va and Ts due to the resputtering effect of the film surface. XRD reveals that for a small thickness (h∼50nm) the TiN films exhibit a strong (002) texture independent of Va. For a larger thickness (100<h<300nm), the development of a (111) preferred orientation is observed together with a grain size increase, except at Ts=300°C, where the predominant texture remains (002). A minor (220) texture is also found, but its contribution strongly decreases with Va and Ts. The residual stresses are highly compressive, ranging from −8to−5GPa, depending on the deposition conditions. When a mixed texture exists, the analysis reveals that (111)-oriented grains sustain stresses that are about 20% more compressive than those sustained by (002)-oriented grains. The present results suggest that the change in the preferred orientation from (002) to (111) is not correlated with a strain energy minimization or with a systematic increase in surface morphology. Rather, kinetically driven mechanisms occurring during growth and linked to anisotropies in surface diffusivities, adatom mobilities, and collisional cascades effects are likely to control the texture development in TiN thin films produced with energetic ionic species. This interpretation is supported by in situ temperature XRD measurements.

Interdependence between stress, preferred orientation, and surface morphology of nanocrystalline TiN thin films deposited by dual ion beam sputtering

http://liu.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:490418/FULLTEXT01

Fully dense, non-faceted 111-textured high power impulse magnetron sputtering TiN films grown in the absence of substrate heating and bias

Stability of silver thin films on various underlying layers at elevated temperatures

The barrier layer in Cu technology is essential to prevent Cu from diffusing into the dielectric layer at high temperatures; therefore, it must have a high stability and good adhesion to both Cu and the dielectric layer. In the past three decades, tantalum/tantalum nitride (Ta/TaN) has been widely used as an inter-layer to separate the dielectric layer and the Cu. However, to fulfill the demand for continuous down-scaling of the Cu technology node, traditional materials and technical processes are being challenged. Direct electrochemical deposition of Cu on top of Ta/TaN is not realistic, due to its high resistivity. Therefore, pre-deposition of a Cu seed layer by physical vapor deposition (PVD) or chemical vapor deposition (CVD) is necessary, but the non-uniformity of the Cu seed layer has a devastating effect on the defect-free fill of modern sub-20 or even sub-10 nm Cu technology nodes. New Cu diffusion barrier materials having ultra-thin size, high resistivity and stability are needed for the successful super-fill of trenches at the nanometer scale. In this review, we briefly summarize recent advances in the development of Cu diffusion-proof materials, including metals, metal alloys, self-assembled molecular layers (SAMs), two-dimensional (2D) materials and high-entropy alloys (HEAs). Also, challenges are highlighted and future research directions are suggested.

Recent Advances in Barrier Layer of Cu Interconnects

Device failure from diffusion short circuits in microelectronic components occurs via thermally induced migration of atoms along high-diffusivity paths: dislocations, grain boundaries, and free surfaces. Even well-annealed single-grain metallic films contain dislocation densities of about 1014 m−2; hence dislocation-pipe diffusion (DPD) becomes a major contribution at working temperatures. While its theoretical concept was established already in the 1950s and its contribution is commonly measured using indirect tracer, spectroscopy, or electrical methods, no direct observation of DPD at the atomic level has been reported. We present atomically-resolved electron microscopy images of the onset and progression of diffusion along threading dislocations in sequentially annealed nitride metal/semiconductor superlattices, and show that this type of diffusion can be independent of concentration gradients in the system but governed by the reduction of strain fields in the lattice.

/pdf/dislocation-pipe-diffusion-in-nitride-superlattices-observed-4xnlp8vnnr.pdf

Dislocation-pipe diffusion in nitride superlattices observed in direct atomic resolution

TiN layers prepared by reactive evaporation and rapid thermal annealing were tested as diffusion barrier between Al and Si. First, Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy (RBS) analysis of Al/Ti(N)/Ti/Si and Al/Ti(N)/Si multilayer structures showed that Si does not diffuse out up to a sintering temperature of 550 °C. However, as the temperature increases beyond 450 °C, Al starts to react with TiN. This reaction leaves less than half the TiN original thickness after a 30 min anneal at 550 °C. The RBS results indicate that TiN, crystallized at a temperature around 850 °C, forms a good barrier between Al and Si. Electrical measurements on various microelectronic devices were performed to verify this. Annealing of Ti(N) at 900 °C leads to a breakdown of p‐MOS (metal–oxide–semiconductor) devices while n‐MOS devices still work properly. Annealing at 800 °C gives good results on both MOS types except that the contact resistance of a p‐type resistor is higher than desired. The electrical circuit failure is mainly due to dopant loss from the active area of the device into the titanium silicide which forms during the rapid thermal annealing at 800 or 900 °C of the deposited Ti(N) layers.

Efficiency of TiN diffusion barrier between Al and Si prepared by reactive evaporation and rapid thermal annealing

Handle everyday research tasks with reliable, citation-backed results

Your personal Research Agent to handle research tasks with citation-backed results

Popular Tasks used by Researchers

How can I help with your research?

Meet SciSpace

Get more enhanced response by uploading the PDFs you want me to reference.

No relevant PDFs in your library

SciSpace is the AI research assistant for academics. Run systematic literature reviews on 280M+ papers, and write papers with cited sources. Trusted by 1M+ students, PhDs & researchers.

SciSpace | AI for Research

Analyze PDFs

Code & Manuscripts

Funding & Grants

Literature & Patents

Medical & Clinical Data

Systematic Review

Visualize & Present

Web & Data

Build a Google Scholar-like website for your research.

Build a website

Create charts and images for your research

Create a Chart

Write a paper for submission to a journal

Draft a manuscript

Patent Search

Design eye-catching scientific posters in minutes.

Scientific Poster Generation

Systematic Literature Review

One task is running at the moment. Your messages will be shown right after.

Drag and drop or click here to browse

Loved by <highlight>1 million+</highlight> researchers

Extract a list of specific topics and their sources from unstructured text

Topics

Compare and analyze relevant papers that matches with your search

Papers

Get insights from PDFs and bookmarked papers from your library

My library

Recent searches

Try searching for:

Catch AI-generated content in scholarly and non-scholarly content

{ai} Detector

Ai Writer

Get PDF Summaries, highlighted text explanations 

Chat with PDF

Effortlessly create in-text citations and bibliographies in APA and 2,500 other formats

Citation generator

Get explanations, summaries, and answers on academic papers

Ease up your research workflow with {scispace}'s cohort of exciting AI tools

Elevate your academic writing skills and convey your ideas the way you want

Paraphraser

Explore our range of reading and writing tools

Your file is being prepared and should be ready in a few minutes. If it's a large file, it might take a bit longer. You can close this window, and we'll email you the file when it's done.

You have reached a maximum limit of <strong>{limit}</strong> columns in the table. Remove at least <strong>1</strong> column to add or create another one.

T. Darwall

Author Tools

Chat about Author

Papers

Efficiency of TiN diffusion barrier between Al and Si prepared by reactive evaporation and rapid thermal annealing