Preparation and properties of thin amorphous tantalum films formed by small e-beam evaporators

Large area (A = 6 cm2), thin tantalum films (5 nm < d < 100 nm) are accomplished by evaporation from tantalum rods using small pocket e-beam evaporators. Using a sample to source distance of ≈20 cm, homogeneous amorphous films with a small surface roughness (<1 nm) can be prepared on glass. Films are characterized by scanning electron microscope images, atomic force microscopy, electrochemical oxidation and resistivity measurements as a function of film thickness. The samples show high resistivities of 200–2000 µΩ cm. The temperature coefficient of the resistivity (TCR) is negative, as characteristic for highly disordered metals. A theoretical description of the thickness distribution (evaporation from plane and hemispherical sources on plane targets) is given in the appendix.