In the present study, diffusion phenomena in titanium/gold (Ti/Au) thin films occurring at temperatures ranging between 200 and 400 degrees C are investigated. The motivation is twofold: the first objective is to characterize Ti diffusion into Au layer as an effect of different heat-treatments. The second goal is to prove that the implementation of a thin titanium nitride (TiN) layer between Ti and Au can remarkably reduce Ti diffusion. It is observed that Ti atoms can fully diffuse through polycrystalline Au thin films (260 nm thick) already at temperatures as a low as 250 degrees C. Starting from secondary ion mass spectroscopy data, the overall diffusion activation energy Delta E = 0.66 eV and the corresponding pre-exponential factor D(0) = 5 x 10(-11) cm(2)/s are determined. As for the grain boundary diffusivity, both the activation energy range 0.54

Keywords:Titanium;Gold;Titanium nitride;Diffusion