Effect of Sputtering Process Parameters on Physical Properties and Electron Emission Level of Titanium Nitride Films

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

Dear Authors,

Your work is noteworthy for its detailed study of titanium nitride films and the influence of deposition conditions on their properties. The manuscript can certainly be published. Please, consider the comments below during the revision process.

General comments

1. Over many decades, a huge number of articles have been published on titanium nitride films. Including those describing their deposition by RF sputtering (for example, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tsf.2025.140603 or https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ceramint.2024.01.230). It is recommended to convincingly prove the novelty of your work.
2. You often use the term "thin film" in the manuscript. This is a very common mistake. Your films, which are about 400 nm thick, are not thin. It has always been accepted to consider films thin when they exhibit a size effect (for example, tunneling). If you really like this term, then please define the criterion by which films can be divided into thin and thick. The technology and film thickness are both inadequate criteria.

Abstract:

1. Your statement "Titanium Nitride (TiN) is a typical semiconductor ceramic…" (line 9) is incorrect. Titanium nitride has metallic conductivity. See, for example, the paper https://doi.org/10.1116/6.0000028, which states: "Film crystallinity is one of the key factors determining the resistivity of thin conductive nitride films…".
2. In this section, you have described the results of your research in detail. However, you have not indicated the purpose of the work and the novelty of the results obtained against the background of numerous studies by other authors. Please clearly indicate the purpose of the work and its novelty.
3. Introduction
4. Similarly (see note 1 to the Abstract section), the statement "...material with semiconductor properties..." is incorrect (lines 31-32).
5. The last paragraph of the section (lines 72-78) is more appropriate for a conclusion, when the reader has already become familiar with the results obtained. Instead, after a detailed analysis, it is more appropriate, in my opinion, to describe the purpose of your research.
6. Results and Discussion

The section is interesting due to a large number of studies of the crystal structure and composition of films.

1. However, where possible, it is desirable to indicate the measurement error.
2. "... to assess the electrical properties of semiconductor...". (lines 171-172). This statement is difficult to argue. But you mean titanium nitride, which, as I have already written, is not a semiconductor. In fairness, I will note that for a semiconductor, the band gap width is a more important characteristic.
3. The same applies to lines 197 and 245.
4. It is more logical to swap sections 2 and 3. First, it is desirable to describe the conditions for obtaining films and methods for their analysis, and then the results of their study.
5. Materials and Methods
6. Please swap sections 2 and 3.
7. Conclusions
8. It does not follow from this section what is novel about your results. Please indicate this. You have discovered new properties of films, or confirmed results obtained by other authors, or something else.

References

I agree. No comments.

Author Response

Please see the attachment file.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 2 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

line 13:"The microscopic analyses show that the film thicknesses ranged from 355 to 459 13 
nm." It is usually impossible to achieve such homogeneity of the thickness. The authors should discuss the thickness errorbars

line 227: "Numerous studies have been conducted to show that TiN is characterized by a low EEC [9-11,40-41]." The author should cite EEC values to be able to compare their results with the published data.

line 246: The abbreviations EEC and PEE should be explained in the figure caption

Comments on the Quality of English Language

line 45: "Major physical vapor deposition includes..." what does it mean? The authors probably meant "Physical vapor deposition methods include ..."

line 74: "A reliable discipline between electrical resistivity and atomic ratio of TiN has been established". Authors probably mean "A relation  between electrical resistivity and atomic ratio of TiN has been established"

 

Author Response

Please see the attachment file.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf