Thermal stability of tungsten sub-nitride thin film prepared by reactive magnetron sputtering

Tungsten sub-nitride thin films deposited on silicon samples by reactive magnetron sputtering were used as a model system to study the phase stability and microstructural evolution during thermal treatments. XRD, SEM&FIB, XPS, RBS and TDS were applied to investigate the stability of tungsten nitride films after heating up to 1473 K in vacuum. At the given experimental parameters a 920 nm thick crystalline film with a tungsten and nitrogen stoichiometry of 2:1 were achieved. The results showed that no phase and microstructure change occurred due to W₂N film annealing in vacuum up to 973 K. Heating up to 1073 K led to a partial decomposition of the W₂N phase and the formation of a W enrichment layer at the surface. Increasing the annealing time at the same temperature, the further decomposition of the W₂N phase was negligible. The complete decomposition of W₂N film happened as the temperature reached up to 1473 K.