Morphology modification by high energy ion beam bombardment concurrent with TiN film growth

Titanium nitride films have been prepared by vapour deposition in an N2 atmosphere concurrent with high energy ion beam bombardment. Both Xe+ ions and Ne+ ions were used in order to investigate the mechanism of surface morphology modification by high energy ion beams during film growth. A beam energy of 40 keV was used. This provides quantitative three-dimensional surface morphological information with high resolution. The results show that high energy ion beam bombardment densifies the surface structure of the films. In the case of heavy ions, the growth of columns with larger dimensions is observed due to the enhanced mobility of the deposited atoms. Light ion bombardment results in the formation of cones because of the variation of sputtering coefficient with position on the surface of the growing film. (3 figures, 12 references). (UK)