Optical and mechanical properties of reactively sputtered silicon dioxide films

The reactive sputtering method, using an Ar/O-2 mixture, was applied to deposit silicon dioxide film. Both x-ray photoemission spectroscopy (XPS) and infrared absorption spectroscopy were employed to evaluate the structure of SiO2 films sputtered at various oxygen percentages. The optical and mechanical properties of SiO2 films on glass substrates were investigated. Films prepared at a higher oxygen content have a higher density and a higher refractive index.