THE EFFECT OF THERMAL ANNEALING ON THE ELECTRICAL RESISTIVITY OF TANTALUM OXIDE THIN FILMS

In this study, We investigate the effect of high temperature annealing on the amorphous-to-crystalline transition in tantalum oxide thin films and the correlated conduction mechanisms. For this purpose, several tantalum films were grown by radio frequency magnetron sputtering controlled by different Ar/O gas ratios. Thermal annealing and crystalline phase investigation were performed in situ using X-ray diffraction and a heating chamber followed by transmission electron microscopy characterization. Chemical states and electronic band structure analysis were performed by X-ray photoemission, transport measurements performed by four-point-probe. Prior to the annealing process, the electron band structure of the thin films were in good agreement with the transport measurements as all the films which varied in oxygen concentration were amorphous.