Synthesis and in situ characterization of low-resistivity TaNx films by remote plasma atomic layer deposition

Remote plasma at. layer deposition (ALD) of TaNx films from Ta[NMe2]5 and H2, H2-N2, and NH3 plasmas is reported. From film anal. by in situ spectroscopic ellipsometry and various ex situ techniques, data on growth rate, at. compn., mass d., TaNx microstructure, and resistivity are presented for films deposited at substrate temps. between 150 and 250 Deg. Cubic TaNx films with a high mass d. (12.1 g cm-3) and low elec. resistivity (380 micro W cm) can be deposited using a H2 plasma with the d. and resistivity of the films improving with plasma exposure time. H2-N2 and NH3 plasmas resulted in N-rich Ta3N5 films with a high resistivity. The different TaNx phases can be distinguished in situ by spectroscopic ellipsometry from their dielec. function with the magnitude of the Drude absorption yielding information on the resistivity of the films. The satn. of the ALD surface reactions can be detd. by monitoring the plasma emission, as revealed by optical emission spectroscopy. [on SciFinder (R)