Published online by Cambridge University Press: 10 February 2011
Titanium Nitride (TiNx) thin films were deposited on Si(100) by reactive magnetron sputtering. The varied deposition conditions were the substrate temperature (Td) (27 - 650 °C) and the negative bias voltage (Vb) applied to the substrate (0 - 200 V) in order to produce TiNx films with various compositions and structural characteristics. The deposition process was monitored in-situ by Spectroscopic Ellipsometry in the spectral range 1.5–5.5 eV. Determination of the film composition was made through the measured screened plasma energy ωps while the electrical resistivity of TiNx was studied in terms of the unscreened plasma energy ωpu. ωpu was calculated by an optical model including a Drude term and Lorentz oscillator terms and their dependence on Td and Vb was studied. The ωpu was found to increase with Vb until a saturation value was obtained. The saturation value of ωpu depends on the Td.ωpu describes better the TiNx films, since it is directly correlated with their metallic character in terms of the electrical resistivity.