Claims
- 1. A process for fabricating a thin film resistor material on a surface of a substrate, comprising:
- exposing said surface to one or more sources of Cr, Si, and nitrogen;
- forming on said surface a thin film comprising a compound of Cr, Si, and nitrogen derived from said sources;
- annealing said thin film to produce said resistor material.
- 2. The process of claim 1 wherein at least one of said sources of Cr, Si, nitrogen, or combinations thereof is gaseous.
- 3. The process of claim 2 wherein said forming step comprises creating a compound of Cr, Si, and nitrogen of thickness exceeding 5 nm.
- 4. The process of claim 3 wherein said forming step comprises preparing a compound having a composition after annealing in the range of, expressed in atomic percent, Cr (5-75%), Si (5-85%), and nitrogen (1-60%) totalling substantially 100 percent.
- 5. The process of claim 3 wherein said forming step comprises preparing a compound having a composition after annealing in the range of Cr (15-35%), Si (47-83%), and nitrogen (2-18%) expressed in atomic percent.
- 6. The process of claim 3 wherein said forming step comprises preparing a compound having a composition after annealing in the range of Cr (25-29%), Si (55-67%), and nitrogen (8-16%) expressed in atomic percent.
- 7. The process of claim 4 wherein said annealing step comprises heating said thin film to a temperature less than 1000.degree. C. in a dry atmosphere.
- 8. The process of claim 7 wherein said atmosphere comprises N.sub.2, O.sub.2, H.sub.2, Ar, He, or dry mixtures thereof.
- 9. The process of claim 8 wherein said forming step comprises reactive sputtering of Cr and Si in a nitrogen bearing gas.
- 10. The process of claim 9 wherein said nitrogen bearing gas comprises N.sub.2 and Ar.
- 11. The process of claim 10 wherein said forming process comprises rf reactive sputtering and said N.sub.2 and Ar are in a pressure ratio of 1-20% partial pressure of nitrogen in a predetermined total pressure of argon plus nitrogen.
- 12. The process of claim 11 wherein said total pressure is in the range 4 to 50 microns (0.53 to 6.7 Pa).
- 13. The process of claim 12 wherein said total pressure is in the range of 6 to 20 microns (0.8 to 2.7 Pa).
- 14. The process of claim 13 wherein said reactive sputtering step includes depositing a layer comprising Cr, Si, and nitrogen having a thickness in the range 40 to 100 nm.
- 15. The process of claim 14 wherein said heating step is carried out between 400.degree. to 800.degree. C.
- 16. The process of claim 15 wherein said substrate comprises a semiconductor.
- 17. The process of claim 15 wherein said surface has thereon an insulator layer.
- 18. The process of claim 17 wherein said insulator layer comprises silicon oxide.
- 19. The process of claim 18 wherein said insulator layer comprises silicon oxide and an outer layer of silicon nitride.
Parent Case Info
This is a division of application Ser. No. 279,130 filed June 30, 1981, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,392,992, issued July 12, 1983.
US Referenced Citations (8)
Foreign Referenced Citations (2)
Number |
Date |
Country |
1543297 |
Oct 1968 |
FRX |
2351478 |
Dec 1977 |
FRX |
Divisions (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
279130 |
Jun 1981 |
|