Effect of Chromium Concentration on the Electrical Properties of NiCr Thin Films Resistor Deposited at Room Temperature by Magnetron Cosputtering Technique

Abstract

NiCr films, 100 nm thick, were prepared on SiO 2 ͑600 nm͒/Si substrates at room temperature as a function of chromium concentration by the cosputtering technique. The crystalline nature and electrical properties of the NiCr films were investigated as a function of chromium concentration. The films with a chromium concentration up to 39% showed a crystalline structure having a low resistivity, a high root-mean-square ͑rms͒ roughness, and positive temperature coefficient of resistivity ͑TCR͒ values. The films with a chromium concentration above 39% exhibited the amorphous structure with negative TCR values. The TCR values of the films with a chromium concentration of 39 and 42% are approximately +10 and −9 ppm/K, respectively. The TCR values approaching zero can be established by controlling the chromium concentration in the NiCr films.

TCR control of Ni–Cr resistive film deposited by DC magnetron sputtering

“…Thin film resistors are generally used for electronic circuits because of their high stability, narrow tolerance and low TCR; therefore, various researches and developments have been reported which focus on the resistor material compositions such as NiCr, SiCr and TaN; the fabrication process includes various sputtering conditions and annealing temperatures [2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12]. Among these materials, Ni-Cr alloy has been especially developed as a thin film resistor, since it possesses high electrical resistivity and low TCR performance [13].…”

“…The occurrence of amorphous and crystalline metastable phases [4,18] is related to the electrical characteristic of TCR, which is less ±5ppm/℃.…”

Study on the Ignition Performance of TaN Transducer by Heat Treatment

“…With the deep research of thin film materials and the development of its preparation technology, as well as the development of micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) processing technology, it provided technical support for the development of MEMS pyrotechnics. NiCr as a kind of commonly used thin film resistors, was more and more unable to meet the requirements of high reliability and low energy development of MEMS pyrotechnics due to its disadvantages such as difficult to achieve high resistivity, low bearing power, poor high temperature stability, poor reliability, easy hydrolysis and so on [1][2][3]. Tantalum nitride (TaN) thin films had excellent electrical properties, stable chemical and thermal properties, good oxidation and corrosion resistance, etc., and had important applications in aerospace, microelectronics, biomedical, power machinery and other fields [4][5].…”

Structural and electrical properties of CuAlMo thin films prepared by magnetron sputtering

“…Thus sheet resistances of <1 Ω/□ can be sputtered at a pressure of 1 mTorr using a 22 cathode power of 1000 W [7]. Following heat treatment at 450 °C in an air 23 atmosphere for 5 hours the negative as-grown TCR property of the films was shifted 24 to near zero. The aim of this work is to further investigate the effect of sputtering and 25 annealing process parameters on the structural and electrical properties of the 1 CuAlMo films.…”