Synthesis and characterization of conductive titanium monoxide films. Diffusion of silicon in titanium monoxide films

Titanium monoxide films of about 100 mu m thickness have been deposited onto Si (100) by reactive ion beam deposition. The established experimental conditions provided reproducibility of synthesised films. With a fee cubic structure and a lattice parameter of 4.17 Angstrom, as found by X-ray diffraction; this lattice value corresponded to an oxygen content of about 52%. The composition was confirmed by Auger electron spectroscopy based on the O-KLL/Ti-LMM integral ratio and on the observation of the fine features of the Ti-LMIM peaks. The films were electrically conducting with a resistivity of 170 mu Omega cm(-1). The low diffusivity of Si in TiO films, as estimated by RBS analysis, offers potential application in microelectronics of the conductive oxide form. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.