Nanocolumnar TiN thin film growth by oblique angle sputter-deposition: Experiments vs. simulations

Nanostructured columnar titanium nitride (TiN) thin films were produced by oblique angle deposition using reactive magnetron sputtering. The influence of the angular distribution of the incoming particle flux on the resulting film morphology (column tilt angle, porosity, surface roughness) was studied by varying the inclination angle alpha of the substrate at two different working pressures, 0.3 and 0.5 Pa. The microstructural features and columns tilt angles beta(exp) determined experimentally were compared to those simulated from two kinetic Monte Carlo (KMC) models. With increasing pressure, the TiN columns were found to be less defined but no significant changes in beta(exp) were revealed. Both KMC models satisfactorily reproduced the experimental findings, the agreement being closer at 0.5 Pa. The evolution of beta angle is also discussed with respect to the resulting incidence angle theta(res) of the incoming flux, this latter quantity accounting for the local incidence angle of individual particles, which may greatly differ from the geometrical angle alpha, especially at high working pressure due to the incoming particle-gas collisions. Crossover phenomena between the 0.3 and 0.5 Pa series were revealed from the evolution of the film resistivity, as well as simulated layer density and surface roughness versus alpha angle. (C) 2018 Elsevier Ltd.