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Reactively sputtered WOxNy films

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 January 2011

Y. G. Shen  and
Y. W. Mai
Y. G. Shen*
Affiliation:
Centre for Advanced Materials Technology, Department of Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering, University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
Y. W. Mai
Affiliation:
Centre for Advanced Materials Technology, Department of Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering, University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
*
a)Address all correspondence to this author. e-mail: [email protected]
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Abstract

A combined investigation of stress relaxation in WOxNy thin films sputter deposited on silicon wafers in an Ar–N2–O2 gas mixture by in situ substrate curvature measurements and of structural properties by ex situ x-ray diffraction, x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), electron energy loss spectroscopy, and transmission electron diffraction is reported. It was found that the W2N films deposited under oxygen-free conditions had a high compressive stress of 1.45 GPa. As the oxygen concentration was increased, the stress became smaller and reached almost zero for films near 10–15 at.% oxygen. These results can be understood in terms of the decrease in the lattice parameter caused by substituting nitrogen atoms with oxygen in the lattice sites and the development of an amorphous network in the WOxNy films as the incorporation of oxygen was increased. Plan view and cross-sectional TEM analyses showed that 150-nm-thick oxygen-free crystalline W2N films had a columnar microstructure with an average column width of 15–20 nm near the film surface, whereas oxygen imbedded in the films provided a finer grain structure. The effect of oxygen in stabilizing the W2N structure was also elucidated and explained on the basis of structural and thermodynamic stability.

Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Materials Research , Volume 15 , Issue 11 , November 2000 , pp. 2437 - 2445
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2000

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