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 $4 \times 10^{-5} to 10 \times 10^{-5}$ 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 $6 \times 10^{-5}$ mbar showed low electrical resistivity of $1.726 \times 10^{-3} \Omega . cm.$ The deposited films were found to be crystalline with refractive index and extinction coefficient 1.95 and 0.4352 respectively.