Atomic Layer Deposition of Nickel Nitride Thin Films using NiCl2(TMPDA) and Tert‐Butylhydrazine as Precursors

Abstract

This article describes the atomic layer deposition (ALD) of nickel nitride and nickel thin films using a diamine adduct of Ni(II) chloride, NiCl2(TMPDA) (TMPDA=N,N,N',N',-tetramethy1-1,3-propanediamine), as the metal precursor. Owing to the high reducing power of tert-butylhydrazine (TBH), the films are grown at low temperatures of 190-250 degrees C. This is one of the few low temperature ALD processes that can be used to grow Ni3N and Ni metal on both insulating and conductive substrates. The films are characterized in terms of crystallinity, morphology, composition, resistivity, and coercivity. Xray diffraction shows reflections compatible with either hexagonal Ni or Ni3N. Composition analyses suggest that the films are close to stoichiometric Ni3N. Despite the nitride component, the films exhibit low resistivity values and at the lowest, a resistivity of 37 RD cm is achieved. The result is lower than what is typically observed for NixN films and not much higher than the best results concerning ALD Ni metal. The nitrogen content of the films is lowered down to 1.2 at% by postdeposition reduction at 150 degrees C in 10% forming gas. After the reduction, the nonmagnetic nitride films are converted to ferromagnetic Ni metal.