DEPOSITION PARAMETER EFFECTS ON THE COMPOSITION AND THE CRYSTALLINE STATE OF REACTIVELY SPUTTERED MOLYBDENUM NITRIDE

Using d.c. reactive sputtering of a molybdenum target, we have studied the effect of discharge power, substrate temperature and nitrogen pressure on molybdenum nitride formation. The crystallographic structure and composition of the deposited Mo-N film surfaces were investigated by reflection high energy electron diffraction and Auger electron spectroscopy. It was found that the deposits consist of the cubic Mo2N1+/-x(f.c.c.), the tetragonal beta-Mo2N and the hexagonal delta-MoN phases. By controlling the substrate temperature and the deposition rate, which is strongly dependent on the discharge power, during the reactive sputtering, the stability domains of different phases were established and it has been possible to produce the fc.c. nitride with a composition near 48.5 at.% N.