Reactive PLD was used to deposit TiN thin films on
Si by varying the substrate temperature and N2 pressure.
At 10−3
torr (13 × 10−2
Pa) working pressure, the hardness
and elastic modulus of the TiN thin films were maximized
when the substrate temperature was 450 o
C. Also, the
texture coefficient of the TiN thin film has the highest
value as compared with TiN thin films grown in other
deposition conditions. In the case of the TiN thin films
as-grwon at a fixed substrate temperature of 450 o
C, a
high hardness was obtained when the working pressure
was lower than 10−3
torr (13 × 10−2
Pa). All the films that
have a preferential (111) plane peak show a high hardness
(higher than 30 GPa). These results indicate that the
reactive PLD of TiN thin films on Si can improve the
mechanical and structural properties of the films significantly
as compared to that of TiN thin films grown with nonreactive PLD.