Microstructure study of the oxidation of TiN layers during sputtering process

TiN provides a good template layer for the epitaxial SrTiO3 (001) growth on Si(001) single crystal substrates by RF sputtering. However, TiN template layer was oxidized into TiO2 during the subsequent sputtering process of electrodes of SrRuO3. The effect of Ru ion catalyzed oxidation and delamination of the TiN layer has been studied using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and high-resolution transmission electron microscope (HRTEM). The epitaxial orientation relationship of the SrRuO3 and SrTiO3 was reserved to be cube on cube with respect to Si and the crystal quality of the SrRuO3/SrTiO3 film remained even when the TiN template layer was oxidized. The stress in the thin film of SrRuO3/SrTiO3/TiN structure could be determined from the buckle shape in both plan view and cross sectional TEM images.