A comparative study on the properties of TiN films prepared by chemical vapor deposition enhanced by rf plasma and by electron cyclotron resonance plasma

TiN thin films were prepared by both r.f. plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (r.f.-PECVD) and electron cyclotron resonance plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (ECR-PECVD) using TiCl4, N-2 and H-2 as the reactants at various deposition temperatures. The effects of deposition temperature on the compositional ratio [N]/[Ti], impurity content, crystallinity, lattice parameter, grain size, deposition rate, resistivity and step coverage were studied. TiN films prepared by ECR-PECVD were highly crystallized at a low temperature of 350 degrees C, while TiN films prepared by r.f.-PECVD began to show obvious crystallinity above 500 degrees C. TiN films deposited by ECR-PECVD at lower temperatures had lower impurity contents and lower resistivity than those deposited by r.f.-PECVD.