Epitaxial Growth of Highly Crystalline and Conductive Nitride Films by Pulsed Laser Deposition

KrF pulsed excimer laser deposition was found to produce epitaxial TiN and ZrN films on Si{100} and MgO{100} substrates, respectively, with optimized laser fluence, substrate temperature and nitrogen ambient pressure. The epitaxial nature of these films was confirmed by the X-ray pole figure, and the crystallinity was evaluated from the full width at half-maximum of the X-ray ω-rocking curve and Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy. The electrical resistivities of these epitaxial TiN and ZrN films were as low as 40 µ Ω cm. The crystal orientation and impurity phase formation are discussed based on a thermodynamic consideration.