Preparation and properties of TiN films under different sputtering pressure

Abstract

In order to study the properties of TiN films, especially the infrared emission properties, TiN films were prepared by reactive DC magnetron sputtering under different sputtering pressures (0.1 Pa, 0.3 Pa, 0.5 Pa, 0.7 Pa) using Ti target as sputtering target, nitrogen as reaction gas and quartz glass as substrate. The infrared emission properties, electrical conductivity and corrosion resistance of TiN films were analyzed. Results showed that the prepared TiN(200) diffraction peaks were all shifted in the large-angle direction, which were related to the N/Ti ratio of the films. Different sputtering air pressures caused different binding of Ti atoms to N atoms, and the prepared TiN films were non-chemometric ratio compounds. When the sputtering air pressure was 0.1 Pa, the sputtered particles had less impacts with gas molecules. The particles deposited into the substrate still had enough energy to diffuse and migrate. A uniform and orderly lattice arrangement was carried out. Films had higher crystalline quality and lowest resistivity. As the sputtering pressure increased, the number of impacts between sputtered particles and gas molecules became more, the energy loss was larger. The particles deposited into the substrate would not be able to migrate and grow sufficiently, which led to a rise in resistivity. Under low sputtering pressure, the TiN film had low surface roughness, low IR emissivity and good corrosion resistance.

Keywords

• tin films
• magnetron sputtering
• sputtering pressure
• infrared emissivity