Deposition of TiN Films by Novel Filter Cathodic Arc Technique

A straight magnetic filtering arc source is used to deposit thin films of titanium nitride. The properties of the films depend strongly on the deposition process. TiN films can be deposited directly onto heated substrates in a nitrogen atmosphere or onto unbiased substrates by condensing the Ti⁺ ion beam in about 300eV N₂⁺ nitrogen ion bombardment. In the latter case, the film stoichiometry is varied from an N:Ti ratio of 0.6--1.1 by controlling the arrival rates of Ti and nitrogen ions. Meanwhile, simple models are used to describe the evolution of compressive stress as function of the arrival ratio and the composition of the ion-assisted TiN films.