The Effect of Deposition Temperature of TiN Thin Film Deposition Using Thermal Atomic Layer Deposition
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
The manuscript describes preparation of TiN thin films at different temperatures and investigation of some physical parameters of the thin films pkrepared by the Authors. The manuscript deals with an important problem of materials chemistry, it appears that the measurements of the physical parameters have been performed by professional expertise, but it does not contain a scientifically important new recognition. It is more similar to a technical relation on well-done experiments. The importance of the knowledge of preparation parameters of thin films as well as that of the knowledge of some physical parameters (roughness, crystallinity, etc) hints at the possibility of publication with some corrections.
Advices for corrections are:
(1) The English should be corrected. The text appears to be product of an "electronic translation" - it should be controlled by a mother language English Editorial person.
(2) The Introduction in its initial 17 rows describes some important scientific facts from previous research activity - however, without references. At least a couple of relevant reviews should be cited.
(3) The description of experiments should be controlled, errors like Experimental row 1 "oxide" - without giving oxided of what? (probably of Si), should be eliminated.
(4) It would be very important to know more about thr reproducibility of the experiments. At that kind of chemistry which is described in the manuscript reproducibility is a highly critical factor.
(5) Giving also the titles of the papers cited in the reference list would make the references more informative (this, however, depends on the decision of the Editor).
Author Response
- Extensive English proofreading was carried out. "Please see the attachment."
- References have been added."Please see the attachment."
- References have been added."Please see the attachment."
- Modified with silicon oxide.
- This experiment was conducted on a 12-inch mass production ALD facility and was evaluated after confirming reproducibility.
- Added title to reference list."Please see the attachment."
Author Response File: 
Author Response.doc
Reviewer 2 Report
Title: A study on deposition characteristics of TiN thin films deposited using thermal ALD method
Authors: Beak-Ju Lee, Yooseong Kim, Dong-Won Seo, and Jae-Wook Choi
The manuscript entitled “A study on deposition characteristics of TiN thin films deposited using thermal ALD method” by Beak-Ju Lee et al. presents a study of the effect of deposition temperature of thin TiN films deposited using thermal atomic layer depositions. The surface morphology and resistivity of the deposited films were characterized using various experimental tools and compared. The manuscript could be recommended for publication if the authors address the following comments.
REMARKS to AUTHOR(s):
The authors entitled the manuscript “A study on deposition characteristics of TiN thin films deposited using thermal ALD method,” which is somewhat confusing. The authors could entitle the manuscript “The effect of deposition temperature of TiN thin films deposited using thermal atomic layer deposition method.” Authors should not use any abbreviation in the title.
Q1: In the sentence (page no-1, Abstract section), “While resistivity decreases to 177 uΩcm …..”. The unit should be written as µΩcm instead of uΩcm, and it should be correct everywhere. The surface roughness (Rq) is 0.691 nm. What is the uncertainty of the surface roughness measurement?
Q2: In the sentence (page no-2, Introduction section), “Impurities in the ……TDMAT, TDEAT, and TEMAT…….” Are these abbreviations defined before use?
Q3: In the sentence (page no-2, Experimental method), “A wafer obtained by depositing 1000 Å of oxide ……….” The unit of the film thickness should be the same throughout the manuscript, either “Å” or “nm.” It would be better to use nm instead of Å everywhere, including the figures. Authors should use only SI units and follow them everywhere in the manuscript. For more details, see the manuscript preparation under the journal information.
Q4: Table 1 only SI unit.
Q5: Fig. 1 What is the uncertainty (errors) on deposition rate measurements?
Q5: In the sentence (page no-4), “The deposition rates per……….0.309 and 0.331, respectively,” Unit is missing.
Q5: Fig. 4 shows grazing incident x-ray diffraction (GIXRD) measurement data. This is a well-known x-ray characterization tool to check the crystallinity of a thin film sample. It is better to write GIXRD instead of XRD. The figure’s fonts are too small; modify and represent it better.
Q5: In Fig. 5, it’s a depth profile XPS analysis.
Q5: In Fig. 6, it’s an AFM analysis, not an XPS.
Q5: Figures 4-6 and 10-11 should represent in a better way see journal information.
Author Response
"Please see the attachment."
Author Response File: Author Response.doc
Reviewer 3 Report
The manuscript entitled “A study on deposition characteristics of TiN thin films deposited using thermal ALD method” is demonstrating the ALD process using halide precursor. Though the manuscript is written in an understandable way, there are some essential areas in which the authors need to provide clarifications.
- The novelty of the manuscript is totally missing
-This manuscript must contain new data and not data already published in other Journals.
- Introduction must be included more information about halide precursors (advantages, disadvantages). There are so tons of papers on ALD-TiN using halide precursor. Please enrich the introduction; why nitride materials are important and what possible applications are used for? with the help of reference: ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 2019, 11, 46, 43608–43621; Appl. Surf. Sci. 2021, 538, 147920.; Appl. Surf. Sci. 2021, 565, 150152.
-“In this study, a wafer obtained by depositing 1000 Å of oxide on a 12-inch Si (100) substrate was used to form a TiN thin film using the CVD method.” Please revise.
-Please give proper reference to the chemical equation.
-“Generally, the reaction temperature of TiN is 400°C– 500°C” there are many process of the same precursor and materials reported at low T and impurities. Also in this study below 350C is not shown. If so, authors need to discuss it with the help of previous results. The GPC seems higher than the previous please discuss the reason.
The GPC/roughness values are in 3 digits after decimal which is generally not considered.
-Fig.6 : How the XPS can determine the roughness ?
--Before and after cleaning samples of XPS may be helpful. The authors need to justify the compositions with analysis like XPS. For more clear understandings of the electronic structure, XPS spectra of Ti,N. spectrum should be provided.
Some morphological data like SEM analysis must be realized and included in the manuscript
9. The possible applications of the mentioned process must be included
10. Same Reference are very old. The manuscript must contain the relevant information to be attractive for readers (researchers), because science has advanced, and the information indicated in the manuscript is no longer valid. This part should include observed information, noted in the last 10-12 years.
-Authors may add one more explanation on the effect of post annealing on the films.
Author Response
"Please see the attachment."
Author Response File: Author Response.doc
Round 2
Reviewer 3 Report
can be accepted. Thank you
