We examine how the substrate temperature during Ti film sputter deposition influences the subsequent texture formation in TiSi_2 thin films. Titanium films of 32 nm thickness were sputtered onto Si(001) at elevated substrate temperatures varying between 100 °C and 900 °C. After the depositions, in situ x-ray diffraction (XRD) measurements were performed to study the thin film reactions in real time, as the samples were annealed. The XRD results show that the substrate temperature significantly influences the texture of the initial Ti film as well as the texture of the resulting C54-phase TiSi_2. The preferred Ti orientation gradually changes from (002) to (101) fiber texture as the deposition temperature increases up to 50 °C. Films deposited at 600 °C transformed into the C49 phase during deposition while films deposited at 700 °C and higher temperatures transformed into the C54 phase during deposition. The series of deposited films was annealed up to 1000 °C in He to complete the C54 phase formation while monitoring the texture evolution in situ using a position sensitive x-ray detector. The XRD results show that the final C54 phase texture changes from a dominant (311) orientation normal to the substrate to a (010) orientation for substrate temperatures between 600 °C and 700 °C. The C49-C54 phase transformation temperature is also lowered for these deposition temperatures. Ex situ pole figure analysis of the film deposited at 700 °C confirms the dominant C54 (010) texture and shows an in-plane orientation with C54 [001] ∥ Si [1-bar10]. For substrate temperatures between 800 °C and 900 °C, the C54 texture changes dramatically. In this case, θ-2θ scans do not show a preferred C54 orientation, but pole figure analysis indicates weak in-plane orientations.
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