Fabrication of superconducting tantalum nitride thin films using infrared pulsed laser deposition

The authors report the successful fabrication of superconducting tantalum nitride (TaN) thin films using a pulsed laser deposition technique with 1064 nm radiation. Films with thickness similar to 100 nm deposited on MgO (100) single crystals and on oxidized silicon (SiO2) substrates exhibited a superconducting transition temperature of similar to 8K and 6K, respectively. The topography of these films were investigated using atomic force and scanning electron microscopy, revealing fairly large area particulate free and smooth surfaces, while the structure of the films were investigated using theta-2 theta and glancing angle x-ray diffraction techniques. For films grown on MgO a face-centered cubic phase of TaN was observed, while films grown on SiO2 exhibited the face-centered cubic as well as a mononitride hexagonal phase. The transition temperature of the TaN deposited on SiO2 was found to be more sensitive to the nitrogen pressure during deposition as compared to the TaN deposited on MgO. (C) 2013 American Vacuum Society.