Titanium nitride grown by sputtering for contacts on boron doped diamond

Abstract

Due to its exceptional properties, semiconducting diamond is expected to be used for electrically active devices which can be operated in harsh environments. Such devices need reliable ohmic contacts that can also stand hostile environments. Titanium nitride (TiN) is a chemically stable material with good electrical conductivity. In this work, TiN contacts on boron doped diamond have been made and characterized. TiN films were deposited by reactive magnetron sputtering. Boron doped diamond layers were deposited by plasma enhanced chemical vapour deposition. Optimal deposition conditions have been determined to obtain TiN films with low resistivity (~100 µOhm.cm), high reflectance in IR region and low stress. TiN contacts show ohmic behaviour after annealing at 750°C.