Metal nitride material for thermistor, method for producing same, and film type thermistor sensor

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9754706-B2
Application number	US-201414895794-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 28, 2014
Priority date	Jun 5, 2013
Publication date	Sep 5, 2017
Grant date	Sep 5, 2017

Abstract

Provided are a metal nitride material for a thermistor, which has a high heat resistance and a high reliability and can be directly deposited on a film or the like without firing, a method for producing the same, and a film type thermistor sensor. The metal nitride material for a thermistor consists of a metal nitride represented by the general formula: (M 1−v V v ) x Al y (N 1−w O w ) z (where 0.0<v<1.0, 0.70≦y/(x+y)≦0.98, 0.45≦z≦0.55, 0<w≦0.35, and x+y+z=1), wherein the crystal structure thereof is a hexagonal wurtzite-type single phase, and “M” is one or two elements selected from Ti and Cr. The method includes a deposition step of performing film deposition by reactive sputtering in a nitrogen and oxygen-containing atmosphere using an M-V—Al alloy sputtering target, wherein “M” is one or two elements selected from Ti and Cr.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A metal nitride material for a thermistor, consisting of a metal nitride represented by the general formula: (M 1−v V v ) x Al y (N 1−w O w ) z (where 0.0<v<1.0, 0.70≦y/(x+y)≦0.98, 0.45≦z≦0.55, 0<w≦0.35, and x+y+z=1), wherein the crystal structure thereof is a hexagonal wurtzite-type single phase, and “M” is one or two elements selected from Ti and Cr.

2. The metal nitride material for a thermistor according to claim 1 , wherein the metal nitride material is deposited as a film and is a columnar crystal extending in a vertical direction with respect to the surface of the film.

3. The metal nitride material for a thermistor according to claim 1 , wherein the metal nitride material is deposited as a film and is more strongly oriented along the c-axis than the a-axis in a vertical direction with respect to the surface of the film.

4. A film type thermistor sensor comprising:
an insulating film;
a thin film thermistor portion made of the metal nitride material for a thermistor according to claim 1 formed on the insulating film; and
a pair of pattern electrodes formed at least on the top or the bottom of the thin film thermistor portion.

5. The film type thermistor sensor according to claim 4 , wherein “M” is one or two elements including at least Cr selected from Ti and Cr, and at least a portion of the pair of pattern electrodes that is bonded to the thin film thermistor portion is made of Cr.

6. A method for producing the metal nitride material for a thermistor according to claim 1 , the method comprising a deposition step of performing film deposition by reactive sputtering in a nitrogen and oxygen-containing atmosphere using an M-V—Al alloy sputtering target, wherein “M” is one or two elements selected from Ti and Cr.

7. The method for producing the metal nitride material for a thermistor according to claim 6 , wherein the sputtering gas pressure during the reactive sputtering is set to less than 0.7 Pa.

Assignees

• Mitsubishi Materials Corp

Inventors

• Fujita Toshiaki
• Tanaka Hiroshi
• Nagatomo Noriaki

Classifications

• H01C17/12

  by sputtering · CPC title

• C23C14/0676

  Oxynitrides · CPC title

• C30B29/38

  Nitrides · CPC title

• G01K7/22

  the element being a non-linear resistance, e.g. thermistor (G01K7/26 takes precedence) · CPC title

• C23C14/0036

  Reactive sputtering · CPC title