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Structure, morphology and electrical resistance of WxN thin film synthesized by HFCVD method with various N2 contents

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Abstract

Tungsten nitride (WxN) thin films with good crystalline structure, high quality and relatively low resistivity were deposited by hot filament chemical vapor deposition (HFCVD) technique at different mixtures of N2 and Ar gases. Experimental data demonstrate that different N2 contents in gas mixture strongly affect microstructure, phase formation, texture morphology and resistivity of the WxN films. According to X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns, the growth of tungsten nitride films promotes δ-WN phase for lower N2 contents in gas mixture. At higher N2 contents, a phase transition is observed in the tungsten nitride films. Both hexagonal δ-WN and cubic β-W2N phases coexist, and WN phase approximately disappears with N2 contents in the gas mixture increasing. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) images for deposited films at lower N2 contents in gas mixture indicate a definite dense columnar nanostructure. The electrical resistivity results exhibit a significant drop for the WxN thin films with N2 contents in the mixed gas increasing. The changes in N2 content in gas mixture are found to be responsible for variation in the film resistivity values. Thus, the deposited tungsten nitride thin film at higher N2 contents in gas mixture has noncolumnar microstructure and lower resistivity, which may be used as a superior diffusion barrier.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Plasma Physics Research Center, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, 14665-678, Iran

    Somayeh Asgary, Mohammad Reza Hantehzadeh, Mahmood Ghoranneviss & Arash Boochani

  2. Department of Physics, Kermanshah Branch, Islamic Azad University, Kermanshah, 6718997551, Iran

    Arash Boochani

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  1. Somayeh Asgary
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Correspondence to Mahmood Ghoranneviss.

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Asgary, S., Hantehzadeh, M.R., Ghoranneviss, M. et al. Structure, morphology and electrical resistance of WxN thin film synthesized by HFCVD method with various N2 contents. Rare Met. 39, 1440–1448 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12598-016-0696-5

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