This work reports on the effect of postdeposition thermal treatment using rapid thermal annealing on the physical and electrical properties of metalorganic chemical‐vapor‐deposited (MOCVD) titanium nitride (TiN) thin films. When ammonia is used as the annealing ambient, the resistivity decreases with increasing annealing temperature. The resistivity of MOCVD TiN was reduced from 6000 to 320 &mgr;&OHgr; cm after 800 °C rapid thermal annealing in ammonia (RTN). Annealing in nitrogen ambient was found to be not nearly as effective as that in ammonia. The decrease in resistivity may be attributed to a reduction in the carbon and oxygen content, growth in grain size through polycrystalline recrystallization, as well as to an increase in film density. ©1995 American Institute of Physics.