Published online by Cambridge University Press: 21 February 2011
Plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposited tungsten nitride (PECVD-W67N33) thin film has been proposed as a diffusion barrier. The resistivity and lattice constant of PECVD-W67N33 are 110-28 μΩ-cm and 4.134 Å, respectively and this film has compressive stress of 2.6 × 1010 dyne/cm2. Thermal stability of PECVD-W67N33 as a diffusion barrier reveals that the interdiffusions between Al or W and Si substrate can be prevented by N interstitial atoms in fcc-W2N grains and grain boundaries.