Effects of magnetic flux density and substrate bias voltage on Ni films prepared on a flexible substrate material using unbalanced magnetron sputtering assisted by inductively coupled plasma

The authors fabricated Ni films on a flexible substrate material using unbalanced magnetron sputtering assisted by inductively coupled plasma. The effects of magnetic flux density BC and substrate DC bias voltage V-S on the Ni film structures were investigated. For V-S = -40 V, the average surface grain size D-G measured by atomic force microscopy for B-C = 0, 3, and 5 mT was 88.2, 95.4, and 104.4 nm, respectively. In addition, D-G increased with V-S. From x-ray diffraction measurements, the (111) and (200) peaks were clearly visible for the fabricated Ni films. The ratio of the integrated intensities of I(111)/I(200) increased with V-S. For V-S = -40 V and B-C = 3 mT, a film resistivity rho of 8.96 x 10(-6) Omega cm was observed, which is close to the Ni bulk value of 6.84 x 10(-6) Omega cm. From these results, the authors determined that the structure of the fabricated Ni films on the flexible substrate material was affected by the values of B-C and V-S. (C) 2014 American Vacuum Society.