View article

Thin films of transition metal nitrides show wide-ranging properties and have various technological uses. The early transition metal nitrides with stoichiometry MN_x (M=Ti, Zr, Hf, V, Ta, Cr, Mo and W; 0.50≤x≤1.67) are refractory materials that show metallic conductivity, excellent chemical durability and interesting optical properties. Nitrides of niobium, molybdenum, iron and copper have applications in superconducting photo-detection, catalysis, magnetic recording, and optical storage respectively. Thin films of the transition metal nitrides are commonly prepared by chemical (CVD) or physical vapour deposition (PVD). Although PVD methods have the advantage of tailoring composition with high precision, these materials inherently suffer from epitaxial stresses and strains due to lattice mismatch with the underlying substrate. Films formed by CVD suffer less from such effects as the process relies upon the chemical …