In the PVD of TiN thin films (~100A), I've found the resistivity of the TiN films dropped from ~100 to 60um*cm with N2 flow increasing up to the metallic mode ending point; then the resistivity jumped to ~200um*cm with N2 flowing in the poisoned mode (100sccm). How to explain this resistivity behavior vs N2 flow? What's the mechanism behind it?
Dear Wenjun Zhao , in the following paper, Lu et al, shows a behaviour partially similar to that described by you:
Article Effect of N2 flow rate on electromagnetic interference shiel...
Unlike you they found a continuous resistivity rise with the flow of N2. They propose that this is due to the fact that as the flow of N2 grows the grain boundaries become larger (the crystal grains are smaller and therefore there are more grain boundaries making more difficult the conduction).
Hope it helps
Thanks @ Manuel Gomez for your information. Interesting trend and mechanism which are different from my data. I found similar data to mine in the following paper. Article Influence of nitrogen content on the structural, mechanical ...
The mechanism is the N interstitials increase then decrease and the formation of other TixNy phases formation.- Badges
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