Effects of Stress and Morphology on the Resistivity and Critical Temperature of Room-Temperature-Sputtered Mo Thin Films

We report on the structural and electrical characterization of Mo thin films deposited at room temperature by RF magnetron sputtering. The effect of RF power on the morphology and residual stress of the films is analyzed. The films are under compressive stress and consist of densely packed columns with a lateral size on the order of 20 nm. The stress, critical temperature, and resistivity of the films are found to rise when increasing the ejected ion energy during the sputtering process. The changes in critical temperature and resistivity are discussed in terms of the observed morphology and stress changes.