Optical Properties and Microstructure of TiNxOy and TiN Thin Films before and after Annealing at Different Conditions

Abstract

TiN and TiNxOy thin films share many properties such as electrical and optical properties. In this work, a comparison is conducted between TiN (with and without annealing at 400 °C in air and vacuum) and TiNxOy thin films deposited by using RF magnetron sputtering with the same pure titanium target, Argon (Ar) flow rate, nitrogen flow rates, and deposition time on stainless steel substrates. In the case of TiNxOy thin film, oxygen was pumped in addition. The optical properties of the thin films were characterized by spectrophotometer, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The morphology, topography, and structure were studied by scanning electron microscope (SEM), atomic force microscope (AFM), and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The results show that both thin films have metal-like behavior with some similarities in phases, structure, and microstructure and differences in optical absorbance. It is shown that the absorbance of TiN (after vacuum-annealing) and TiNxOy have close absorbance percentages at the visible range of light with an unstable profile, while after air-annealing the optical absorbance of TiN exceeds that of TiNxOy. This work introduces annealed TiN thin films as a candidate solar selective absorber at high-temperature applications alternatively to TiNxOy.

Structural, Optical, and Electronic Properties of Cu-Doped TiNxOy Grown by Ammonothermal Atomic Layer Deposition

“…22,25,52 Indeed, the surface morphology and processing quality may result in a significant shift of the transmittance band even in pure TiN samples. 21,53,54 Spectral ellipsometry of our samples confirms that the substrate type strongly affects the optical response of the TiN x O y films. The films grown on Si showed a higher refractive index and slightly lower absorption coefficient than those on SIT.…”

“…12−17 Although some work has been done on Cu-doped TiN and oxygen diffusion in Cu/TiN/Al, no in-depth experimental studies of Cu-doped TiN x O y films' physical properties have been published to the best of our knowledge. 18,19 Magnetron sputtering, 2,20,21 reactive sputtering, 22−24 pulsed laser deposition, 25 and atomic layer deposition (ALD) are the major technologies to produce TiN x O y thin films as they do not require elevated temperatures while providing good conformity. 6,26,27 The self-limiting nature of the ALD growth and the ability to grow on the shaded and even upside-down surfaces make this technology more favorable for certain applications.…”

“…Magnetron sputtering, ,, reactive sputtering, − pulsed laser deposition, and atomic layer deposition (ALD) are the major technologies to produce TiN x O y thin films as they do not require elevated temperatures while providing good conformity. ,, The self-limiting nature of the ALD growth and the ability to grow on the shaded and even upside-down surfaces make this technology more favorable for certain applications. − ALD provides unsurpassed accuracy of the film thickness and uniformity; therefore, we believe that this technology is a highly promising route to develop TiN x O y resistors for high-frequency integrated circuits in the future. However, compared to magnetron sputtering, ALD usually does not have high vacuum, which may result in a less precisely defined oxygen content in TiN x O y films due to the admixture of residual oxygen in the ALD chamber during the growth.…”

In Vitro Corrosion of Titanium Nitride and Oxynitride-Based Biocompatible Coatings Deposited on Stainless Steel

“…The interest in titanium oxynitride films is due to the pronounced dependence of the oxynitrides properties on the N/O ratio [33,34,[43][44][45][46][47]. Titanium oxynitride coatings have been reported to have a large variety of applications, depending on the N/O ratio, presenting a wide variety of properties, such as biocompatibility [34,46,48], wear and corrosion resistance [33,38,49], being used as photocatalytic coatings [50,51], plasmonic material for nanophotonics [47], or solar selective absorbers [52], just to name a few. However, the variation of environmental factors, such as concentration, pH, oxidizing environment, temperature, and pressure, may disrupt their stability and hence may lead to undesired reactions [53].…”

Effect of Tea Polyphenols on Curdlan/Chitosan Blending Film Properties and Its Application to Chilled Meat Preservation

“…The film morphology was analyzed by SEM [28]. The composite film was cut into 6 mm × 1 mm pieces after drying to a constant weight at 100 ± 2 • C. The film was broken in liquid nitrogen to form natural fracture layers, and attached to a metal plate using double-sided adhesive.…”