Influence of tantalum's crystal phase growth on the microstructural, electrical and mechanical properties of sputter-deposited tantalum thin film layer

High melting point refractory tantalum (Ta) metal is frequently grown into thin film layer for many applications in biomedical implants, microelectronic devices and micro-level mechanical systems. Tantalum growth mechanism is still in debate and the inconsistent crystal phase outcome has puzzled many, though it is certain that the properties of the grown film are highly dependent on the formed crystal phase configuration. The microstructure, surface morphology, crystal orientation and residual stress of the sputter-deposited Ta thin films using direct current (DC) magnetron sputtering technique are studied at 0.4 Pa – 2 Pa of sputtering pressure, 100 W – 250 W of DC sputtering power on bare silicon and silicon dioxide substrate and 10 min – 50 min of sputtering duration. α-phase Ta is preferably grown at high sputtering time (high thickness) and high DC sputtering power (high growth rate). The sputtering pressure affects the thin film's microstructural porosity while the sputtering power controls the crystallisation's quality. Both sputtering pressure and power affect the generated argon plasma in the DC magnetron sputterer where α-phase Ta is preferably formed at high plasma. The presence of 3 μm silicon dioxide underlayer makes no difference compared to bare silicon substrate. Our study reveals that β-phase Ta is grown first irrespective of sputtering conditions and then transformed into α-phase Ta after reaching a certain thickness. The grown major α-phase content promotes small thin film sheet resistivity (58.9 μΩcm – 86.1 μΩcm) and is suspected to be the dominant factor that increases the compressive stress within the thin film layer and reduces the adhesion of Ta layer onto the substrate surface. The study has given a new insight in controlling the conductivity and adhesion level of Ta thin film based on the grown phase layer. •Consistent growth of β-phase tantalum at the early stage of sputtering process.•α-phase preferably formed as tantalum grows to a certain thickness.•High compressive stress and low adhesion level for tantalum with high α-phase content.