Reactive sputter deposition of TiN layers: modelling the growth by characterization of particle fluxes towards the substrate

The growth of reactively sputtered TiN films is discussed. First, an overview of the existing models in the literature that describe the development of the orientation and microstructure is given. Then, these models are critically confronted with the results of experiments published in the literature and performed by the authors. The latter experiments focus especially on the determination of the energy flux and atomic N/Ti flux towards the substrate and lead to the conclusion that these fluxes towards the substrate play a key role in the growth of the TiN films. This relation between these fluxes and the microstructure of the TiN films gives further evidence to the previously published extended structure zone model.