Year
2025
Season
Fall
Paper Type
Master's Thesis
College
College of Arts and Sciences
Degree Name
Master of Science in Material Science & Engineering (MS)
Department
Physics
NACO controlled Corporate Body
University of North Florida. Department of Physics
Committee Chairperson
Dr. Daniel F. Santavicca
Second Advisor
Dr. Maitri Warusawithana
Third Advisor
Dr. Gregory A. Wurtz
Fourth Advisor
Dr. Brian Wingender
Department Chair
Dr. Gregory A. Wurtz
College Dean
Kaveri Subrahmanyam
Abstract
Superconducting thin film devices such as Josephson junctions are a staple of cutting-edge quantum and classical computing architectures. Functional devices require optimized materials with properties suited to the device application; properties like superconducting critical temperature, critical current density, resistivity, and surface roughness are important depending on the intended device application. Niobium titanium nitride (NbTiN), a fcc transition metal nitride, is a promising material for these applications, with a superconducting critical temperature among the highest of the superconductors described by Bardeen, Cooper, and Schreiffer (BCS) theory. NbTiN has excellent mechanical and electrical characteristics and is easily deposited via reactive magnetron sputtering from metal sputter targets at low substrate temperatures compatible with thermally sensitive fabrication processes. In this thesis, a deposition process for NbTiN thin films was developed and optimized using reactive high power impulse magnetron sputtering (HiPIMS). NbTiN films were deposited and characterized electrically and physically using a variety of methods to examine the correlation between sputtering parameters and film properties. Characterization of the films involved measurement of their electrical resistivity, superconducting critical temperature, surface morphology, and crystallographic structure. Optimized films were used to fabricate microwire devices, which were measured and demonstrated to have excellent electrical and superconducting properties. The optimized thin films are suitable for use in superconducting thin film based devices and fabrication stacks.
Suggested Citation
Horne, Hudson, "Niobium titanium nitride thin film deposition, optimization, and characterization" (2025). UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations. 1376.
https://digitalcommons.unf.edu/etd/1376