Reactive pulsed laser deposition and characterization of niobium nitride thin films

Krishnan, R and David, C and Ajikumar, PK and Dash, S and Tyagi, AK and Jayaram, V and Raj, Baldev (2011) Reactive pulsed laser deposition and characterization of niobium nitride thin films. In: Surface and Coatings Technology, 206 (6). pp. 1196-1202.

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Abstract

We present a systematic study to explore the effect of important process variables on the composition and structure of niobium nitride thin films synthesized by Reactive Pulsed Laser Deposition (RPLD) technique through ablation of high purity niobium target in the presence of low pressure nitrogen gas. Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry has been used in a unique way to study and fix gas pressure, substrate temperature and laser fluence, in order to obtain optimized conditions for one variable in single experimental run. The x-ray diffraction and electron microscopic characterization have been complemented by proton elastic backscattering spectroscopy and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy to understand the incorporation of oxygen and associated non-stoichiometry in the metal to nitrogen ratio. The present study demonstrates that RPLD can be used for obtaining thin film architectures using non-equilibrium processing. Finally the optimized NbN thin films were characterized for their hardness using nano-indentation technique and found to be similar to 30 GPa at the deposition pressure of 8 Pa. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Publication:	Surface and Coatings Technology
Publisher:	Elsevier Science
Additional Information:	Copyright of this article belongs to Elsevier Science.
Keywords:	Reactive pulsed laser deposition;Niobium nitride;X-ray diffraction;Nanoindentation;X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy; Proton elastic backscattering spectroscopy
Department/Centre:	Division of Mechanical Sciences > Materials Engineering (formerly Metallurgy)
Date Deposited:	03 Jan 2012 12:10
Last Modified:	03 Jan 2012 12:10
URI:	http://eprints.iisc.ac.in/id/eprint/42959

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