Structure and properties of titanium nitride thin films deposited at low temperatures using direct current magnetron sputtering

Titanium nitride layers on silicon substrates have been deposited by magnetron sputtering at a constant temperature of 200 °C using nitrogen partial pressures (pN2) from 0.001 to 0.36 Pa. Distinct dependences between pN2 in the reactive gas and the mechanical and structural properties of the layers could be found by x‐ray diffraction and other methods. The general absence of the Ti2N phase in layers deposited at low temperatures can be explained by the high energy impact of energetic particles during the deposition process as well as by the limited mobility of adatoms due to the low substrate temperature. Two different cases of lattice distortions were detected for low and high pN2, respectively. In the higher pressure range the lattice parameters a1110 are greater than the a2000. For this the variable density of interstitial sites in different planes together with the macroscopic film stress was found to be responsible. At lower pN2 the a1110 was smaller than the a2000. This effect could be explained by ...