In-situ observation of self-cleansing phenomena during ultra-high vacuum anneal of transition metal nitride thin films: Prospects for non-destructive photoelectron spectroscopy

Self-cleansing of transition metal nitrides is discovered to take place during ultra-high vacuum annealing of TiN, NbN, and VN thin films. Native oxide layers from air exposure disappear after isothermal anneal at 1000  °C. Also, for TiN, the Ti 2p and N 1s X-ray photoelectron spectra(XPS) recorded after the anneal are identical to those obtained fromin-situgrown andanalyzedepitaxial TiN(001). These unexpected effects are explained by oxide decomposition in combination with N-replenishing of the nitride duringrecrystallization. The finding opens up new possibilities for true bonding assignments through non-destructiveXPSanalyses, thus avoiding artefacts from Aretching.

Source: Applied Physics Letters - November 23, 2016 Category: Physics Authors: G. Greczynski and L. Hultman Source Type: research