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Manganese nitride films have been successfully fabricated by the technique of plasma enhanced atomic layer deposition (PEALD). The process employed bis(N,N'-di-tert-butylacetamidinate)manganese [Mn(amd)2] as manganese precursor and ammonia plasma as a coreactant. With a typical PEALD process cycle of 5 s Mn(amd)2 pulse, 10 s Ar purge pulse, 10 s NH3 plasma exposure, 10 s Ar purge pulse, 80 °C deposition temperature, and 60 W input power, the deposited film is continuous and smooth with a growth rate is 0.037 nm/cycle. Based on x-ray diffraction measurement, the film is determined to be η-Mn3N2 crystal structure. The primary deposition mechanism has been investigated by in situ optical emission spectroscopy and quartz crystal microbalance. The deposited manganese nitride film shows an excellent barrier performance against copper diffusion at insulator/copper interface. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High temperature materials usually serve under extreme conditions. In order to ensure the safety and reliability of industrial application, it is very significant to clarify the microstructural evolution and mechanical properties at high temperature. The in situ experiment combining mechanical tensile testing and heating in the scanning electron microscope (SEM) is a feasible method to study the relationship between the microstructure, mechanical properties, and temperature. However, it was challenging to acquire images of high quality when the temperature exceeded 800 °C due to the effect of thermal electrons and the instability of loading conditions at high temperature. In this study, a mini-tensile apparatus was devised and installed in an ordinary SEM, which can achieve a stable loading of 0–2200 N and obtain high quality images in the temperature range of 1150 °C. A highly efficient heat source with multi-layer thermal insulation was designed to prevent the other parts of the apparatus from being affected by high temperature. A symmetrical tensile structure was developed to ensure that the region of interest was always within the field of view of the microscope during testing. Thermal electrons were suppressed to ensure that the sample can be clearly distinguished at 1150 °C. In order to ensure the testing reliability, standard carbon steel was used to calibrate the instrument. Finally, a Ni-based single crystal superalloy, as an example, was tested using this in situ tensile testing system at 1150 °C to verify the main functions and reliability of the apparatus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cobalt nitride (Co3Nx) thin films were deposited via the technique of plasma enhanced atomic layer deposition (ALD) at low temperatures down to 100 °C, using bis(N,N′-di-iso-propylacetamidinato)cobalt(II) [Co(ipr2AMD)2] and NH3 plasma. Saturation curves demonstrate that the deposition processes follow the ideal self-limiting ALD fashion with a growth rate of 0.075 nm/cycle. The x in the nominal formula of Co3Nx is approximately 0.78, and the films are demonstrated polycrystalline with a hexagonal Co3N crystal structure. This process can deposit a pure, smooth, and highly conformal Co3Nx film in trenches with 20:1 aspect ratio, which can be extended to the deposition of other metal nitrides at low temperature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]