Copper nitride thin film prepared by reactive radio-frequency magnetron sputtering

Abstract

Reactive magnetron cosputtering of hard and conductive ternary nitride thin films: Ti-Zr-N and Ti-Ta-N Properties of reactively radio frequency-magnetron sputtered ( Zr , Sn ) TiO 4 dielectric films Copper nitride ͑Cu 3 N͒ thin films were deposited on glass substrates by reactive radio-frequency magnetron sputtering of a pure copper target in a nitrogen/argon atmosphere. The deposition rate of the films gradually decreased with increasing nitrogen flow rate. The color of the deposited films was a reddish dark brown. The Cu 3 N films obtained by this method were strongly textured with crystal direction ͓100͔. The grain size of the polycrystalline films ranged from 16 to 26 nm. The Hall effect of the copper nitride ͑Cu 3 N͒ thin films was investigated. The optical energy gap of the films was obtained from the Hall coefficient and found to vary with the nitrogen content. The surface morphology was studied by scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy. The copper nitride thin films are unstable and decompose into nitrogen and copper upon heat treatment when annealed in vacuum with argon protected at 200°C for 1 h.

Ti substituted nano-crystalline Cu3N thin films

“…In most works, the stoichiometry of Cu 3 N thin films has been deduced from XRD data (having a change in the lattice parameter). 7,[15][16][17]26 The lattice constant has been estimated from the position of the Cu 3 N (100) diffraction peak. The evolution of the film lattice constant is due to the variation in nitrogen stoichiometry.…”

“…Most publications have dealt with reactive magnetron sputter deposition and the characterization of the physical properties of the Cu 3 N films as a function of deposition parameters: nitrogen (partial) pressure in the gas mixture, [15][16][17] substrate temperature, 7,18 and sputtering power. 19,20 Although Cu 3 N has been widely studied, little information is available in the literature concerning transition metal-doped Cu 3 N. Recently, some ternary compound based Cu 3 N have been grown; (Pd, Cu)N, 21 (Ti, Cu)N, 22 and (Ag, Cu)N. 23 Also, Moreno-Armenta et al 24 have theoretically studied the effect of metal insertion (M = Ni, Cu, Zn, Pd, Ag, and Cd) at the center of Cu 3 N unit cell on electronic structure.…”

Stopping power dependence of nitrogen sputtering yields in copper nitride films under swift-ion irradiation: Exciton model approach

“…-laj> (1) where N 0 is the nitrogen density prior to irradiation, Nf is the nitrogen density depleted from the film after irradiation, and k is the molecular release cross section. According to the BMR model, the following steps have to operate in order to release nitrogen by swift heavy ion irradiation: (i) Cu-N bonds are broken, thus, nitrogen atoms can be liberated from their lattice positions, (ii) Nitrogen atoms recombine in the bulk to form N 2 .…”

“…Copper nitride is a semiconducting material with an optical bandgap of around 1 eV [1][2][3] which presents a cubic lattice structure. Cu 3 N thin films are usually deposited by sputtering [4,5].…”

Structure and Thermal Stability of Copper Nitride Thin Films

“…Among them, copper nitrides have attracted considerable attention as a new material for optical storage devices and high speed integrated circuits, based on its unique properties, such as rather low thermal decomposition temperature, excellent electrical properties, and optical qualities [1,2]. All of these properties are due to its special cubic anti-ReO 3 structure.…”