In the application of contact glue layer for semiconductor devices, a hydrogen/nitrogen plasma treatment was used to improve the electrical properties of metallorganic chemical vapor deposition titanium nitride (MOCVD-TiN) films. In this study, the optimum contact resistance (Rc) was found in 0.11-mu m logic patterned wafers while increasing the plasma treatment energy on the TiN glue layers. Unsatisfactory plasma treatment resulted in a higher Rc because of insufficient impurity removal from the TiN films. The plasma under-treatment behavior of patterned TiN films was similar to that of blanket TiN films. When the TiN films received overloaded plasma energy, the plasma over-treatment effect caused an increase in the Rc of patterned wafers but a decrease in the film resistivity of blanket TiN films. A novel plasma-over-treatment model suggested that a decrease in the numbers of grains in patterned TiN films reduced the numbers of parallel current channels leading to a higher Rc. (c) 2006 The Electrochemical Society.