Addition of silver in copper nitride films deposited by reactive magnetron sputtering

Silver-copper nitride thin films were deposited on glass substrates by reactive co-sputtering of silver and copper targets. The films were characterized by energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy to determine the silver to copper atomic ratio and by X-ray diffraction to determine the film structure. From the experimental values of lattice constant and UV-visible reflectance measurements, the position of silver atoms in Cu3N films was discussed. Finally, the effect of silver on the film electrical resistivity was presented. (C) 2007 Acta Materialia Inc. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.