Plasma-enhanced atomic layer deposition of titanium oxynitrides films: A comparative spectroscopic and electrical study

The process parameters' impact of the plasma-enhanced atomic layer deposition (PE-ALD) method on the oxygen to nitrogen (O/N) ratio in titanium oxynitride (TiOxNy) films was studied. Titanium(IV)isopropoxide in combination with NH3 plasma and tetrakis(dimethylamino)titanium by applying N2 plasma processes were investigated. Samples were characterized by the in situ spectroscopic ellipsometry, x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and electrical characterization (current–voltage: I-V and capacitance–voltage: C-V) methods. The O/N ratio in the TiOxNy films is found to be very sensitive for their electric properties such as conductivity, dielectric breakdown, and permittivity. Our results indicate that these PE-ALD film properties can be tuned, via the O/N ratio, by the selection of the process parameters and precursor/coreactant combination.