Patent ID: 8524049

Claim:
A method for forming a metallic nitride film, comprising the steps of: (a) providing a titanium or zirconium target and a substrate in a vacuum chamber; and (b) forming a metallic nitride film, consisting essentially of TiN or ZrN, on a surface of said substrate by sputtering deposition under the conditions of i. maintaining a working pressure of said vacuum chamber in a range of 5×10 −4 Torr to 5×10 −2 Torr and ii. introducing a gas mixture of air, which acts as a reactive gas, and argon into said vacuum chamber at a flow rate ratio of the air to the argon ranging from 5:100 to 15:100; wherein a direct current power ranging from 100 Watts to 5000 Watts is applied by a power supply in step (b); wherein a biased voltage ranging from 0 to −200 V is applied to said substrate in step (b).