  ScN material is an emerging semiconductor with an indirect bandgap. It has
attracted attention for its thermoelectric properties, use as seed layers, and
for alloys for piezoelectric application. ScN or other transition metal nitride
semiconductors used for their interesting electrical properties are sensitive
to contaminants, such as oxygen or fluorine. In this present article, the
influence of depositions conditions on the amount of oxygen contaminants
incorporated in ScN films were investigated and their effects on the electrical
properties (electrical resistivity and Seebeck coefficient) were studied. The
epitaxial-like films of thickness 125 +-5 nm to 155 +-5 nm were deposited by
D.C.-magnetron sputtering on c-plane Al2O3, MgO(111) and r-plane Al2O3 at a
substrate temperature ranging from 700 to 950 degree C. The amount of oxygen
contaminants presents in the film, dissolved into ScN or as an oxide, was
related to the adatom mobility during growth, which is affected by the
deposition temperature and the presence of twin domain growth. The lowest
values of electrical resistivity of 50 micro-ohm cm were obtained on
ScN(111)/MgO(111) and on ScN(001)/r-plane Al2O3 grown at 950 degree C with no
twin domains and the lowest amount of oxygen contaminant. At the best, the
films exhibited an electrical resistivity of 50 micro-ohm cm with Seebeck
coefficient values maintained at -40 microV K-1, thus a power factor estimated
at 3.2 10-3 W m-1 K-2 (at room temperature).
