Remote plasma enhanced atomic layer deposition of titanium nitride film using metal organic precursor (C12H23N3Ti) and N2 plasma

Abstract Deposition of titanium nitride (TiN) thin films has been studied by remote plasma enhanced atomic layer deposition (PEALD) using MAP Ti (Mecaro Advanced Precursor-C12H23N3Ti) precursor and nitrogen plasma. Consequently, it was possible to use a temperature window of 275–325 °C, lower than the window required by other TiN films using TiCl4 precursor and NH3 gas. The auger electron spectroscopy (AES) analysis showed that as plasma power and plasma exposure times increase, impurity content decreases and TiN film deposited at plasma power of 400 W and exposure time of 35 s has lower impurity content than films deposited by other methods such as metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD). For TiN thin film deposited at 300 °C, plasma power of 400 W, and plasma exposure time of 35 s, the X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis showed crystallinity and resistivity of approximately 320 μ Ω c m . Atomic force microscopy (AFM) measurements determined a TiN film surface roughness of under 0.5 nm. TEM (transmission electron microscope) analysis showed 98% step coverage.