The electrical resistivity and mechanical hardness of reactively sputtered tantalum nitride
(TaN) thin films on ceramic substrates have been investigated. Depending on the
nitrogen/argon gas flow rate ratio (defined as R), the resistivity of the tantalum nitride films
varied unusually widely (107 orders) from metal to insulator. The big increase in the
resistivity of the tantalum nitride films as the R value increased may be due to the
theoretically predicted Ta vacancies and anti-site defects (excess N atoms occupying Ta …