Preparation and Characterization of Nanostructured TiN Thin Films Deposited by DC Reactive MagnetronSputtering

Abstract

Titanium nitride (TiN) thin films of different crystal structure and morphologies were deposited by direct current (dc) reactive magnetron sputtering method under conditions of various deposition times (3090 min). The crystal structure, crystal size, thickness and surface morphology properties of the films were studied and the results were discussed with respect to deposition time. The films were deposited on Si (100) and stainless steel substrates with constant Ar to N2 ratio of 15:2 sccm and sputtering power of 280 W. The crystal structure was characterized by X-ray diffraction. The Scherrers formula was used to calculated crystal size. The surface morphology and thickness were evaluated by Atomic Force Microscope (AFM). The golden coloured with uniformnity of TiN films were obtained at deposition time for 30 min. The as-deposited films color was varied with the deposition times from gold, brown and dark brown. The polycrystalline films showed reflections corresponding to the (111), (200), (220) and (311) orientations of the face center cubic TiN structure. The crystallinity of the films was increased with increased the deposition times. The AFM results indicate that the grain size of surface morphologies changed through the deposition times. With increase in deposition time, the roughness and films thickness were increased from 5.0 nm to 21.0 nm and 551.0 nm to 1.4 μm, respectively.