Structure dependent resistivity and dielectric characteristics of tantalum oxynitride thin films produced by magnetron sputtering

Abstract The main purpose of this work is to present and to interpret the change of electrical properties of Ta x N y O z thin films, produced by DC reactive magnetron sputtering. Some parameters were varied during deposition: the flow of the reactive gases mixture (N 2 and O 2 , with a constant concentration ratio of 17:3); the substrate voltage bias (grounded, −50 V or −100 V) and the substrate (glass, (1 0 0) Si or high speed steel). The obtained films exhibit significant differences. The variation of the deposition parameters induces variations of the composition, microstructure and morphology. These differences cause variation of the electrical resistivity essentially correlated with the composition and structural changes. The gradual decrease of the Ta concentration in the films induces amorphization and causes a raise of the resistivity. The dielectric characteristics of some of the high resistance Ta x N y O z films were obtained in the samples with a capacitor-like design (deposited onto high speed steel, with gold pads deposited on the dielectric Ta x N y O z films). Some of these films exhibited dielectric constant values higher than those reported for other tantalum based dielectric films.