Atomic force microscopy study of surface roughening of sputter-deposited TiN thin films

Z. J. Liu, N. Jiang, Y. G. Shen, Y. W. Mai

Research output: Journal article publicationJournal articleAcademic researchpeer-review

68 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The kinetic surface roughening of TiN thin films sputter-deposited on silicon substrates at room temperature was studied. Scaling analyses were made by surface measurements of atomic force microscopy (AFM). The roughness exponent α and growth exponent β that characterize scaling behaviors of surface growth were calculated using the height-height correlation function H(r) and power spectra P(f). The exponent values of α=∼0.98 and β=∼0.28 indicated that the surface growth behavior of sputtered TiN thin films could be adequately explained by a simple linear growth model showing surface diffusion as a smoothing effect and shot noise as a roughening mechanism. An inverse Fourier transformation technique was also used to generate the evolution of theoretical surface profiles that showed good agreement with AFM measurements.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)3559-3563
Number of pages5
JournalJournal of Applied Physics
Volume92
Issue number7
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Oct 2002
Externally publishedYes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Physics and Astronomy

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