Effects of substrate bias and argon flux on the structure of titanium nitride films deposited by filtered cathodic arc plasma

High-quality titanium nitride (TiN) films with nano-structure were prepared at ambient temperature on (111) silicon substrates by filtered cathodic arc plasma (FCAP) technology with an in-plane "S" filter. The effects of substrate bias and argon flux on the crystal grain size, roughness and preferred orientation were systematically investigated. It was found that the substrate bias and argon flux can affect the properties of TiN films effectively. Transmission electron microscope images showed that the crystal grain size was uniform and ranged from 10 nm to 5 nm. The results of X-ray diffraction and electron diffraction indicated that the degree of preferred orientation was more evident under high substrate bias and high argon flux.