Atomic Layer Deposition of Thin VNx Film from Tetrakis(diethylamido)vanadium Precursor

Thin vanadium nitride (VNx) films were grown by atomic layer deposition using tetrakis(diethylamido)vanadium as a precursor and NH3 as a reactant. A growth rate of 0.1 nm/cycle without incubation time is obtained. Transmission electron microscopy reveals that a nanocrystalline texture in random orientation is characteristic of the VNx film, which is favorable as an extremely thin barrier application. A low carbon impurity level (~6 at.%) is achieved owing to acceleration of the transamination between the V(NR2)4 precursor and NH3. The lowest resistivity of 120 µΩ cm is successfully achieved for the VNx film prepared under optimized conditions.