Properties of Sputter Deposited Cr Thin Film on Polymer Substrate by Glancing Angle Deposition

Abstract

Glancing angle deposition (GLAD) is a powerful technique to control the morphology and microstructure of thin film prepared by physical vapor deposition. Chromium (Cr) thin films were deposited on a polymer substrate by a sputtering technique using GLAD. The change in thickness and Vickers microhardness for the samples was observed with a change in the glancing angle. The adhesion properties of the critical load (Lc) by a scratch tester for the samples were also measured with varying the glancing angle. The critical load, thickness and Vickers microhardness for the samples decreased with an increase in the glancing angle. However, the thickness of the Cr thin film prepared at a 90o glancing angle showed a relatively large value of 50 % compared to that of the sample prepared at 0o. The results of X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy demonstrated that the effect of GLAD on the microstructure of samples prepared by sputter technique was not as remarkable as the samples prepared by evaporation technique. The relatively small change in thickness and microstructure of the Cr thin film is due to the superior step-coverage properties of the sputter technique.