Characterization of the Optical Properties and Composition of TiNxThin Films by Spectroscopic Ellipsometry and X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy

✍ Scribed by Bendavid, A.; Martin, P. J.; Netterfield, R. P.; Kinder, T. J.

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1996
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 535 KB
• Volume: 24
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0142-2421
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1096-9918(19960916)24:9<627::aid-sia149>3.0.co;2-r

✦ Synopsis

Thin films of TiN, with 0.34 < x < 1.19 were deposited on silicon substrates by a filtered arc deposition process. Spectroscopic ellipsometry (SE) in the energy region 1.5-3.5 eV was used to measure the optical properties of the films. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) was used to determine the relative atomic concentration and the chemical states of the elements. The dielectric function ~( w ) measured by ellipsometry gives the optical response of TIN, films and valuable information on their chemical composition, which is also verified by XPS. The plasma energy wp of TIN, films was found to depend strongly on the N/Ti ratio and this is correlated with the value of x as determined by XPS and Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy (RBS). The results show that, via the calibration, spectroscopic ellipsometry may be used to estimate the stoichiometry of deposited TIN, films.