Effect of nitrogen on the crystal texture and microstructure of sputtered Ni-Fe films

Abstract

This work reports the effect of nitrogen in the sputtering gas on the crystal texture and microstructure of 1 μ thick 81/19 Ni–Fe films sputter deposited on silica glass and silicon. X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, and scanning auger microprobe analysis have been used to characterize films’ properties. The films show (111) and (002) crystals orientations. Upon increasing the nitrogen content of the sputtering gas, the amount of (111) crystal texture decreases; whereas the amount of (002) crystal texture shows a maxima at about 0.1% nitrogen. The microstructural analysis of films shows that the presence of nitrogen in the sputtering gas promotes fine grain size. The mechanism of crystal texture development with an increase in the amount of nitrogen in the sputtering gas is discussed.