Effect of Sputtering Current on Structure and Morphology of (Ti1-xCrx)N Thin Films Deposited by Reactive Unbalanced Magnetron Co-sputtering

(Ti-1-Cr-x(x))N thin films were deposited with various chromium currents (I-Cr = 0.4-1.0 A) on Si (100) wafers and glass slides by reactive unbalanced magnetron co-sputtering technique without heating and biasing the substrates. The effects of sputtering current on the structure and morphology of (Ti1-xCrx) N films was studied. The films were grown on the substrates using titanium and chromium targets in a mixed Ar and N-2 atmosphere. The structure of the films was investigated by x-ray diffraction (XRD). The surface and cross-sectional morphologies of the films were examined by atomic force microscopy (AFM) and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), respectively. Furthermore, the chemical composition of the films was analyzed using energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDS). The results revealed that the (Ti1-xCrx) N thin films formed solid solutions with the fcc NaCl phase and relative Cr content (x) was figured out in the range from 0.46 to 0.81. The crystal sizes of the films calculated from Scherrer formula are about 12-13 nm. AFM results indicated increasing of the roughness from 3 to 7 nm corresponding to the thickness increased from 400 to 900 nm when I-Cr was increased. In addition, the cross-sectional morphology showed dense and compact columnar. (C) 2010 Published by Elsevier Ltd. Selection and/or peer-review under responsibility of I-SEEC2011