Plasma focus method for growth of molybdenum nitride thin films: Synthesis and thin film characterization

Although molybdenum nitride (Mo-N) is prepared intensively by different physical methods, there are no reports available on Mo-N thin films deposited by Plasma focus (PF) device. This study focuses on the characterization of Mo-N thin films deposited on glass substrates at room temperature using a low energy (1.1 kJ) PF device. The structural, morphological, electrical and mechanical properties of Mo-N thin films are investigated in terms of the number of shots. The XRD patterns revealed that all the deposited thin films are polycrystalline in nature, possessing gamma Mo2N (fcc) structure. Also according to the XRD results, the crystal structure characteristics and residual stress of the deposited thin films were strongly dependent on the number of shots. XPS spectra demonstrated the Mo 3d(3/2), Mo 3d(5/2), Mo 3p(3/2) and N1s peaks for all samples, confirming the formation of gamma-Mo2N structure. The results obtained from SEM images revealed a growth of granular structures and then formation of larger sized agglomerates on the surface of thin films, with an increase in number of shots. The surface roughness and size of grains on the surface of coated films were investigated by AFM analysis. Furthermore, the variation in hardness and electrical resistivity of the Mo-N thin films deposited by different number of shots was explained, qualitatively, on the basis of morphological characteristics of the thin films. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.