Nitrogen ratio and RTA optimization on sputtered TiN/SiO₂/Si electrolyte-insulator-semiconductor structure for pH sensing characteristics

Sputtered titanium nitride (TiN) with a novel N₂ ratio adjustment and rapid thermal annealing (RTA) treatment are proposed in order to optimize pH sensing performance of electrolyte-insulator-semiconductor (EIS) structure. Selection of this methodology, which can be easily applied into standard CMOS and DRAM technology, results from the fact that TiN is a well-verified material as a buffer or a barrier layer. It was concluded that pH sensitivity of the order of 60.5 mV/pH and linearity of 99.9% could be obtained for a TiN/SiO₂ EIS structure treated with N₂ ratio of 20% and RTA at 800°C, which could be a good candidate in sensor applications. This performance is stable for more than two months. Higher surface roughness shown in atomic force microscope (AFM) analysis and high oxygen level in sputtering process shown in x-ray photo photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) could be the reasons for the high sensitivity of the fabricated TiN sensing layer.