Studies on zirconium nitride films deposited by reactive magnetron sputtering

This paper deals with the preparation of Zirconium Nitride films by DC reactive magnetron sputtering. Films were deposited on silicon substrates at room temperature. Nitrogen partial pressure was varied from 4 × 10⁻⁵ to 10 × 10⁻⁵ m bar and the effect on the structural, electrical, optical properties of the films was systematically studied. The films formed at a nitrogen pressure of 6 × 10⁻⁵ mbar showed low electrical resistivity of 1.726 × 10⁻³ Ω.cm. The deposited films were found to be crystalline with refractive index and extinction coefficient 1.95 and 0.4352 respectively. (© 2003 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)