Applications Notes

AJA’s In-House Applications Research Center

AJA International actively develops applications in thin film deposition for a variety of materials. Based on this work, we provide here Application Notes with short overviews for growing films serving practical purposes in a variety of areas. This makes available tested recipes for quickly getting started in use of our tools for specific needs. We will post an introduction to each here and will be continually growing this resource. Please reach out to us to request a copy of any note you are interested in!

Overview

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Magnetron Sputter Deposition of Titanium Nitride

Introduction

Titanium nitride (TiN) is a multi-functional coating material.

  • It is a ceramic nitride, making it a hard coating material with low coefficient of friction for tribological applications

  • It is a conductive material as well, allowing it to be used for electrical contact in electronics applications, including semiconductors

  • As a superconducting material, if finds use in sensors such as SQUID

  • Its interesting optical properties recommend it as a candidate for plasmonic devices

  • Its lustrous gold color has made it widely used for decorative coatings.

All these properties can be imparted to surfaces as coating through thin film deposition. Magnetron sputtering is a simple and convenient method for applying this material.  

However, many materials and devices cannot be subjected to the high temperatures often used in TiN deposition recipes. This Application Note gives specific guidance for the deposition of TiN with the substrate at room temperature.

Titanium nitride thin film on an oxide-coated silicon wafer

AJA International’s applications team is regularly updating our library with comprehensive process notations. Check in here weekly for new and exciting information.

For more detailed applications notes, contact our sales team today.

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