DIRECT PLASMA BEAM DEPOSITION OF TIN(X) LAYERS WITH AN RF PLASMA BEAM SOURCE

An r.f. plasma beam source which was modified for the production of monoenergetic mixed gas-metal plasma beams has been used for the direct beam deposition of TiN(x) layers. Ti was sputter injected into the source plasma maintained in different N2-Ar gas mixtures. The energy E(ion) of the ion component in the electrically neutral plasma beam was varied between 30 and 200 eV. A strong influence of the nitrogen fraction in the working gas was found on both the growth rate and the composition of the TiN(x) layers with x varying from 1 to 1.8. Structural analysis with grazing-incidence X-ray diffraction revealed an average grain size of 160 angstrom and a transition from a random crystallite orientation at E(ion) = 30 eV to a strong (111) fibre texture for E(ion) above 130 eV.