Abstract
In this study, we searched the optimum processes of titanium nitride (TiN) thin films deposited on Si (100) substrates using unbalance magnetron (UBM) sputtering system. Based on our previous studies, design of experiment is a powerful method to optimize an unknown process. The purpose of this thesis is to find the sensitive processing parameters that affect the film properties, and predict the optimum conditions. The major parameters, including deposition power, nitrogen partial pressure, distance between target and specimen and specimen height, were selected to optimize the deposition process. After deposition, the thin film structure and grain size were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), and high-resolution scanning electron microscopy (SEM), respectively. The hardness of the TiN films was measured by a nanoindenter. N/Ti ratios of the thin film were determined using Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy (RBS). The composition depth profile was measured by secondary ion mass spectroscopy (SIMS). The resistivity of TiN films was measured by a four-point probe. The roughness of the film was determined by atomic force microscopy (AFM). The analysis of mean (ANOM) and analysis of variance (ANOVA) were used to investigate the effect of parameters on properties. The results showed that there is no dominant preferred orientation in the TiN film for all specimens, except specimen S7. N/Ti ratios ranged from 0.8 to 1.4 including the stoichiometric composition. Hardness values of TiN film ranged from 12.1 to 30.8 GPa. The resistivity of TiN films ranged from 59 to 951 □□-cm. The roughness for most of the films was lower than 2 nm. The optimum conditions have been obtained associated with deposition rate, hardness, N/Ti ratio, resistivity, packing factor and roughness, respectively.