Effect of Ti Sputtering Current on Structure of TiCrN Thin Films Prepared by Reactive DC Magnetron Co-Sputtering

Abstract

Titanium chromium nitride (TiCrN) thin films were deposited by reactive DC magnetron co-sputtering. The effect of Ti sputtering current (ITi) on the structure of the TiCrN thin films were investigated. The crystal structure, microstructure, thickness, roughness and elemental composition were characterized by glancing angle X-ray diffraction (GAXRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM) and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) technique, respectively. The results showed that, all the as-deposited films were formed as a (Ti,Cr)N solid solution. The as-deposited films exhibited a nanostructure with a crystallite size of less than 40 nm. The crystal size decreased from 39.9 nm to 33.5 nm, while the lattice constants increased from 4.139 Å to 4.162 Å, with increasing of the Ti sputtering current. The film thickness and roughness were found to increase from 397 nm to 615 nm and 3.7 nm to 6.3 nm, respectively, with increasing of the Ti sputtering current. The composition of the as-deposited films varied with the Ti sputtering current. Cross section analysis by FE-SEM showed compact columnar and dense morphology as a result of increasing the Ti sputtering current.