Surface Stoichiometry and Depth Profile of Tix-CuyNz Thin Films Deposited by Magnetron Sputtering.

Arun Kumar Mukhopadhyay,Harm Wulff,Sadhan Chandra Das,Abhijit Majumdar,Rainer Hippler,Gourab Bhattacharjee,Avishek Roy

doi:10.3390/ma14123191

Abstract

We report the surface stoichiometry of Ti-CuN thin film as a function of film depth. Films are deposited by high power impulse (HiPIMS) and DC magnetron sputtering (DCMS). The composition of Ti, Cu, and N in the deposited film is investigated by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). At a larger depth, the relative composition of Cu and Ti in the film is increased compared to the surface. The amount of adventitious carbon which is present on the film surface strongly decreases with film depth. Deposited films also contain a significant amount of oxygen whose origin is not fully clear. Grazing incidence X-ray diffraction (GIXD) shows a CuN phase on the surface, while transmission electron microscopy (TEM) indicates a polycrystalline structure and the presence of a TiCuN phase.

Highlights

During the past decades, thermodynamically stable metal nitrides (MN) have been studied extensively for their electrical, magnetic, tribological, corrosion, and anti-bacterial properties and the resulting potential applications [1,2,3,4,5,6]
Tix Cuy Nz thin films were deposited by magnetron co-sputtering at gas pressures of 1 and 5 Pa in a nitrogen atmosphere
The composition was investigated as a function of film depths

Summary

Introduction

Thermodynamically stable metal nitrides (MN) have been studied extensively for their electrical, magnetic, tribological, corrosion, and anti-bacterial properties and the resulting potential applications [1,2,3,4,5,6]. A major concern of these studies are the physical properties of MN by changing the atomic nitrogen percentage. Well-known phases of the Cu-N compound (not considering the unstable copper azide) are Cu3 N and Cu4 N, which exhibit a semiconductor-like and metallic behaviour, respectively [10,11]. Binary Ti-Cu compounds are well known for their antibacterial activity [4,5]. Ternary Ti-Cu-N compounds are rare on Earth but have been observed as crystalline CuTiN2 and Ti3 CuN phases in meteorites [12]

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Results

Conclusion