Dominant plasma species for TiN film formation by plasma CVD

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Abstract
An experimental study has been performed to identify the dominant plasma species which contribute to the formation of TiN films during CVD plasma deposition. To this effect, we measured the TiN film growth rate as a function of selected process variables and determined as well the radiation emission intensity of the major plasma species and their scaling with respect to the same variables, in the bulk plasma region and in the vicinity of the substrate. On these bases we calculated the corresponding flux rates to the substrate surface for the most abundant neutral species containing titanium and nitrogen, as well as their scaling as a function of the selected process variables. The results obtained suggest that Ti atoms and metastables are the major species contributing to the supply of activated titanium and nitrogen to the substrate surface. In addition, a scaling correlation has been established between the concentration of these species in the bulk plasma and the film growth rate which supports this result.