Synchrotron X-ray Reflectivity for Characterization of the Initial ALD Growth of TaN

Abstract

We report the interface structure and the initial microstructure of TaN films, prepared by using the atomic layer deposition (ALD) method. We prepared 3-, 5-, 10-, 20-, 30-, and 50-cycled films to reveal the physical morphology of the initial growth. Since the ALD growth strongly depends on the initial surface state and reaction kinetics, we concentrated on structural measurements during initial growth of the film. The growth rate is 0.58 angstrom/cycle, and continuous film is made of 10 cycles corresponding to a thickness of 7 degrees. The film's density also saturates at 8.45 g/cm(3).