Negative Substrate Bias Research Articles

Avoiding avalanche breakdown in planar GaN Gunn diodes by means of a substrate contact

Abstract Impact ionization originated by the buffer leakage current, together with high electric fields ( > 3 MV cm−1) at the anode corner of the isolating trenches, has been identified as the failure mechanism of shaped planar GaN Gunn diodes when biased above 20 V, so that no evidence of Gunn oscillations in fabricated devices has been observed yet. In order to avoid the avalanche, we propose the addition of a Schottky substrate terminal, which, by means of Monte Carlo simulations, has been confirmed to be able to suppress such not-desired leakage current when applying a negative substrate bias. When the substrate bias is positive, impact ionization is also reduced due to the lower electric field at the hotspot, but a vertical cathode-substrate current degrades the device operation. In order to avoid such current, we propose the use a MIS configuration for the substrate contact, which is the optimal solution.

Corrosion resistance of HiPIMS tungsten and tungsten-aluminium coatings in contact with liquid Sn

Pure‑tungsten and tungsten-aluminium films deposited by high power impulse magnetron sputtering (HiPIMS) on copper‑chromium‑zirconium substrates were investigated as protective coatings against liquid tin corrosion, a critical issue for nuclear fusion applications. The growth of pure‑tungsten coatings was controlled by using a negative substrate bias synchronized to the HiPIMS pulse onset, resulting in columnar films with various degree of compactness and crystallinity according to the set bias amplitude (0, 400 and 800 V). Differently, the co-sputtering of W and Al favored the formation of an amorphous layer with a compact morphology. During liquid tin corrosion experiments at 400 °C for up to 600 min, all produced coatings were not dissolved, but different protective performances were observed after localized liquid tin interaction. Pure-W coated samples suffered from tin penetration after brittle failure of the protective layer. On the contrary, under the same experimental condition, WAl coatings proved to be effective in limiting liquid tin attack.

Advanced film/substrate interface engineering for adhesion improvement employing time- and energy-controlled metal ion irradiation

Pre-deposition substrate etching by metal ion bombardment is an efficient and fast cleaning method that ensures improved chemical and topological substrate surface modification. Here, we study the effects of metal ion mass and kinetic energy on etching of industrially-relevant cemented carbide (WC) substrate as well as on adhesion at the Ti0.50Al0.50N/WC interface. Cr+ or W+ ion fluxes are generated by high-power impulse magnetron sputtering (HiPIMS), while their kinetic energy Ekin is tuned by applying negative substrate bias voltage synchronously with the metal ion-rich portion of the flux. The time evolution of ion fluxes at the substrate plane is studied with energy- and time-resolved ion mass spectrometry. The threshold substrate bias voltage required to initiate substrate etching is in the 900–1000 V range for both Cr+ and W+ fluxes. Moreover, we show that the adhesion strength of Ti0.50Al0.50N coatings correlates with Ekin. For Ekin < 900 eV, Cr or W interlayers are grown and no significant improvement in the adhesion strength is observed. Contrary, for Ekin > 900 eV, effective substrate etching with energetic metal ions significantly improves the adhesion strength: we demonstrate an increase of 76–79 % after etching with metal ions as compared to the untreated substrate.

Growth of boron-doped diamond-like carbon films from a low-pressure high-density plasma in inductively coupled chemical vapour deposition

The main objective of this work was the preparation and optimization of boron-doped diamond-like carbon (DLC) films having a good crystalline structure, and electronic and optical properties, at an extremely low deposition pressure and relatively low growth temperature, by varying the flow rates of precursor gases (CH4, B2H6, and Ar) in the plasma controlled at 800 W of RF power. Planar inductively coupled plasma-enhanced chemical vapour deposition technique was used to enable deposition at ∼5.33 Pa and 450 °C, at a constant negative substrate bias of -40 V. The flow rate of the dopant gas (B2H6) was changed to obtain a set of samples, while the precursor gas (CH4) flow rate was kept fixed. The doped sample, prepared with B2H6/CH4 ratio (r) = 1 %, was found to possess a maximum ID/IG (intensity ratio of the D peak with the G peak) of ∼0.819 and a minimum IDia/IG ratio (relative intensity of the Diamond peak to the G peak) of ∼1.149. A high sp3 content of ∼50 % was revealed from the X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis and the transmission electron microscopy images also indicated the presence of prominent 〈111〉, 〈220〉, and 〈311〉 crystallographic planes. The B-doped DLC film possessed enhanced electrical conductivity (σRT) of ∼3.02 ×10−5 S cm−1 relative to the intrinsic DLC films, a corresponding minimum of activation energy (ΔEH) (as calculated in the above room-temperature regime) of ∼170 meV, an optical band gap (Eg) of ∼3.35 eV, and the root mean square roughness of ∼48.12 nm.

Effect of bias voltage on the structural properties of WN/NbN nanolayer coatings deposited by cathodic-arc evaporation

In this work, WN/NbN nanolaminate coatings were synthesized by cathodic-arc physical vapor deposition (CA-PVD) technique on a stainless-steel substrate. The paper reports the microstructure, cross-sectional morphology, surface roughness, and adhesion strength changes caused by variations in the absolute values of the negative substrate bias voltage, Us , in the 50-200 V range. Synthesized coatings were analyzed by Grazing incidence X-ray diffraction (GI-XRD), scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), laser scanning confocal microscopy (LSCM), and Daimler-Benz test. The phase analysis revealed that multilayer coatings had complex polycrystalline microstructure. They consisted of face-cantered cubic (fcc) β-W2N, fcc δ-NbN, and hexagonal ε-NbN phases. The total thickness and surface roughness had a descending trend with an increase in the absolute value of the negative bias voltage. Moreover, the WN/NbN coating deposited at Us = -50 V demonstrated the best adhesion strength to the substrate, suitable for protective coatings.

High-energy sputtering for the deposition of a conductive and adherent single molybdenum layer for solar cell applications

Molybdenum (Mo) thin films are thought to be an excellent back contact for CuIn1-xGaxSe2 (CIGS) solar cells. Mo films require high conductivity and good adhesion to glass substrates; however, these characteristics cannot be combined in sputtered Mo under the same deposition conditions. Direct current Magnetron Sputtering (DcMS) and High-Power Impulse Magnetron Sputtering (HiPIMS) were used to deposit Mo films on glass substrates, and the effects of working pressure and substrate bias on their characteristics were investigated. To begin, single layers of Mo were produced at pressures ranging from 0.2 to 1.4 Pa. The Mo films deposited at the lowest working pressure of 0.2 Pa were then subjected to a negative substrate bias varying from -50 to -200 V. All of the HiPIMS films adhered well to the glass substrate, whereas the DcMS films deposited at various pressures showed poor adhesion. Furthermore, our findings demonstrated that applying a negative substrate bias reduced the resistivity of Mo films to the lowest values of 2.56 × 10−5 Ω.cm and 2.771 × 10−5 Ω.cm, respectively, for the HiPIMS and DcMS-deposited films, while improving the adhesion of the DcMS-samples due to the development of films with homogenous stress distribution.

INFLUENCE OF BIAS VOLTAGE ON THE STRUCTURE AND MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF Ti-Nb-C FILMS DEPOSITED BY DC DUAL MAGNETRON SPUTTERING

The films of the Ti-Nb-C system were deposited by direct current (DC) magnetron co-sputtering of composite Ti&amp;#43;Nb, and graphite targets onto Si substrates to which negative substrate bias in the range of -50&amp;#247;-200 V was applied during film deposition. The microstructure, chemical bonds, and mechanical properties of films were comparatively investigated. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis revealed that the peaks of the XRD spectra of the film obtained by co-spattering of the composite Ti&amp;#43;Nb and graphite targets are located in the intermediate region between the corresponding peaks of the Ti-C and Nb-C films. The X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) showed that the Ti-C and Nb-C bonds prevail in the deposited Ti-Nb-C films. It was suggested that the Ti-Nb-C films are nanocomposite and consist of the crystallites of Ti&lt;sub&gt;1-x&lt;/sub&gt;Nb&lt;sub&gt;x&lt;/sub&gt;C&lt;sub&gt;y&lt;/sub&gt; solid solutions surrounded by amorphous carbon-based matrix. The Knoop hardness of the Ti-Nb-C film is highest (37.5 GPa) in the film deposited at -50 V substrate bias. The average friction coefficient determined before film delamination was the lowest (0.12) in that Ti-Nb-C film.

Effects of deposited particle energy on the structure and properties of diamond-like carbon films

Using plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD), a series of diamond-like carbon (DLC) films were prepared on YG8 carbide substrate by changing the enhancement mode and the negative bias voltage of the substrate. The structure and properties of the deposited films were tested by a series of analytical and testing instruments.During the deposition of DLC films, the ability of electrons to collide and ionize the gas is enhanced by increasing the number of electrons and extending the movement path of electrons, which is called electron-assisted enhanced gas ionization. Four different experimental modes (A mode, B mode, C mode, D mode) were set up. Different experimental modes have different degrees of electron-assisted enhancement ability of gas ionization, so different experimental modes are called different enhancement modes. The ions ionized by the electrons participate in the deposition of the film under the traction of the negative bias voltage of the substrate. The results show that: when depositing diamond-like carbon films, the energy of the ion beam is indirectly affected by electron collisions in different enhancement modes and directly affected by the negative bias voltage of the substrate. The higher the enhancement mode, the higher the ion beam energy. The higher the substrate negative bias voltage, the higher the ion beam energy generated by gas source discharge. Under the dual action of enhancement mode and substrate negative bias voltage, the total energy of ions involved in deposition should not be too high or too low, and the synergy of the two makes the properties and quality of the deposited film reach a better value. For industrial large-scale production of tool protection film for cutting aluminum alloy, it is more suitable for high enhancement mode and low negative bias voltage production.Through a series of process optimization to improve and enhance the comprehensive performance of DLC film, it is further applied to the actual processing application field, which has great industrial and social value to realize the large-scale application of DLC film in the field of hard to cut metal processing.

Deposition of Ti[sbnd]Zr alloy films using Ti and Zr dual-cathode high-power impulse magnetron co-sputtering

In this study, titanium–zirconium binary alloy films were deposited using heterogeneous dual-cathode high-power impulse magnetron sputtering with a closed magnetron field. For both Ti and Zr cathodes, the discharge voltage pulses were synchronized with an equal pulse width. In addition, we investigated the effects of the average discharge power ratios of the two cathode materials, deposition pressure, and substrate bias voltage on the mechanical strength and microstructure of the deposited films. The results revealed that the film composition could be controlled by the average power ratio of the two cathodes at a constant deposition pressure; however, the deposition rate of each element varied with the deposition pressure. At a constant average power ratio at the two cathodes, the Zr content in the films decreased with decreasing the deposition pressure. Decreasing the deposition pressure can smoothen the film surface, but the dependence of the film composition on two cathode powers also changes. An adequate enhancement of the negative substrate bias can further increase the film hardness and reduce the film elastic modulus, yielding only a moderate loss in the film deposition rate and marginal variations in the film composition. However, the magnitudes of the increase in hardness and the decrease in elastic modulus brought by enhancing negative substrate bias varies with the film composition, and will be minimized when the atomic fractions of Ti and Zr are near equal. Notably, with adjusting the negative substrate bias, adding Zr can change the film hardness from 4.8 to 10.6 GPa, and the film elastic modulus from 100 to 162 GPa. Overall, the advantageous mechanical and structural properties of the TiZr alloy films deposited using HiPIMS might be useful in tools, biomedical devices, wearable equipment applications.

Effect of Substrate Negative Bias on the Microstructural, Optical, Mechanical, and Laser Damage Resistance Properties of HfO2 Thin Films Grown by DC Reactive Magnetron Sputtering.

Hafnium oxide thin films have attracted great attention as promising materials for applications in the field of optical thin films and microelectronic devices. In this paper, hafnium oxide thin films were prepared via DC magnetron sputtering deposition on a quartz substrate. The influence of various negative biases on the structure, morphology, and mechanical and optical properties of the obtained films were also evaluated. XRD results indicated that (1¯11)-oriented thin films with a monoclinic phase could be obtained under the non-bias applied conditions. Increasing the negative bias could refine the grain size and inhibit the grain preferred orientation of the thin films. Moreover, the surface quality and mechanical and optical properties of the films could be improved significantly along with the increase in the negative bias and then deteriorated as the negative bias voltage arrived at -50 V. It is evident that the negative bias is an effective modulation means to modify the microstructural, mechanical, and optical properties of the films.

SOI FinFET Design Optimization for Radiation Hardening and Performance Enhancement

This work proposes Total Ionizing Dose (TID) hardening techniques compatible with conventional 14-nm-node silicon-on-insulator (SOI) FinFETsf process flows through performing 3-dimensional (3-D) simulations based on technology computer-aided design (TCAD) tools. The simulation results reveal a significantly critical TID impact induced by trapped charges in the buried oxide (BOX) and the spacer with calibration against 14 nm SOI FinFETfs experimental data (error < 6%). Inspired by the physical interpretation, an optimization technique featuring an optimized gate structure, spacer length, and substrate bias is designed. The optimized gate structure is utilized to enhance the local gate-to-channel coupling at the bottom and reduce the generation and capture of electron-hole pairs. By reducing the spacer length, a lower sensitive volume in the spacer can effectively suppress the TID response. The setting of the negative substrate bias greatly improves the subthreshold characteristics, weakening the TID effect in the BOX. By adopting the combined optimization including these techniques, the threshold voltage shift (VTH) induced by a 5 Mrad(SiO2) irradiation can be reduced to 21 mV, whereas VTH is 45 mV with only gate structure optimized and 97 mV without hardening. Meanwhile, the ION/IOFF after radiation increases to 1 × 107, which is at least four orders of magnitude better than the original device. Meanwhile, subthreshold swing (SS) is reduced from 81 mV/dec to 71 mV/dec, and Drain Induced Barrier Lowering (DIBL) is reduced from 120 mV/V to 99 mV/V, respectively. The combined optimization design is demonstrated as an effective method to improve the tolerance against TID irradiation without compromising performance, promoting 14 nm SOI FinFET’s application in future harsh space environments.

On the surface biasing effectiveness during reactive high-power impulse magnetron sputter deposition of zirconium dioxide

In this study, we investigate the effect of surface biasing during high-power impulse magnetron sputter deposition of non-conductive zirconium dioxide films on substrates with different capacitances. We employ reactive high-power impulse magnetron sputtering to deposit ZrO2 films using a circular Zr target in a pure oxygen atmosphere. The deposition experiments are conducted on two types of substrates: high-capacitance (thin thermally grown SiO2 on Si) and low-capacitance (soda-lime glass). By varying the time shift between the target voltage pulse and the negative substrate bias voltage pulse, we analyze the impact on the preferred crystal orientation of the deposited ZrO2 films and the deposition rate. We measure the current and voltage waveforms during the deposition process and utilize a surface charging model to understand the charging behavior of the growing film. Additionally, time- and energy-resolved ion mass spectra are measured to gain insights into the ion behavior during film growth. Our results demonstrate that energetic ion bombardment and appropriate timing of substrate biasing can influence the crystal orientation of ZrO2 films, favouring specific orientations over others. We also explain the different behavior observed on low- and high-capacitance substrates.

Effect of pulse width on deposition of diamond-like carbon on high-power pulsed magnetron sputtering

A diamond-like carbon (DLC) film was deposited using high-power pulsed magnetron sputtering. The effect of pulse width on the deposition of DLC film was investigated under constant peak power density or average power density to clarify the densification mechanism of DLC film. The maximum hardness of 25 GPa analyzed by nanoindentation was obtained using Ar gas without negative substrate bias voltage at pulse width 30 μs and a peak power density of 1.5 kW cm−2. The flux and energy of C+ and Ar+ incident to the DLC film was evaluated by using energy-resolved and time-resolved mass spectrometry to clarify the relation between the input power to the target and the behavior of produced ions. The change in hardness is well correlated with the ion flux ratio C+/Ar+. This result indicates that a flux and energy of Ar+ as well as C+ is a key parameter to characterize the microstructure of DLC film.

Improving the crystallinity and texture of oblique-angle-deposited AlN thin films using reactive synchronized HiPIMS

Many technologies, such as surface-acoustic-wave (SAW) resonators, sensors, and piezoelectric MEMS require highly-oriented and textured functional thin films. The best results are typically achieved for on-axis sputter geometries, but in some scenarios, this is not feasible, such as during co-deposition from multiple magnetrons or when coating substrates with high aspect ratios. Ionized physical vapor deposition (PVD) techniques such as HiPIMS can be used to accelerate the film-forming species onto the growing film using substrate-bias potentials, thus increasing adatom mobility and film texture. However, gas-ion incorporation can limit the feasibility of such synthesis approaches for defect-sensitive functional thin films. This work reports on the oblique-angle deposition of highly textured, c-axis oriented AlN (0002) films using reactive metal-ion synchronized HiPIMS. AlN thin films deposited using direct current magnetron sputtering (DCMS) and HiPIMS are discussed for comparison and the effect of ion irradiation through substrate biasing is investigated. We find that combining HiPIMS with a moderate substrate bias of only −30 V improves the crystalline quality and texture of the films significantly, while the process-gas incorporation and point defects formation can be further reduced by synchronizing the negative substrate bias potential to the Al-rich fraction of each HiPIMS pulse. In addition to a pronounced out-of-plane texture, the films show uniform polarization of the grains making this synthesis route suitable for piezoelectric applications. While the compressive stress in the films is still comparatively high, the results already demonstrate, that metal-ion synchronized HiPIMS can yield promising results for the synthesis of functional thin films under oblique-angle deposition conditions - even with low substrate-bias potentials.

A CMOS Lock-In Pixel Image Sensor With Multisimultaneous Gate for Time-Resolved Near-Infrared Spectroscopy

This article proposes a CMOS lock-in pixel image sensor aiming for time-resolved near-infrared spectroscopy (TR-NIRS). The pixel employs lateral electric field charge modulation (LEFM) with an eight-tap multisimultaneous gate structure and negative substrate bias. The optimization of pixel structure creates a high potential slope with no barrier to facilitate the high-speed photo-generated charge transfer required in the time-resolved application. The sensor employs a two-stage charge transfer architecture with pinned storage diodes (SDs). The effectiveness of the sensor is demonstrated through simulations and experimental measurements. A prototype sensor with 70 (V) <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\times110$ </tex-math></inline-formula> (H) effective pixels to characterize the multisimultaneous gate lock-in pixel is implemented in a 0.11- <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\mu \text{m}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> 1-poly-4-metal CMOS image sensor (CIS) technology. A fast intrinsic response of 240 ps is achieved using an 80-ps pulsewidth 780-nm laser diode by the characterization using two simultaneous gates and a single time window of the lock-in pixel. Performance evaluation using silicon phantoms and further measurement with a rat demonstrates the feasibility of the proposed sensor and setup for TR-NIRS applications.

Role of magnetic field and bias configuration on HiPIMS deposition of W films

In this work, the deposition of tungsten (W) films by High Power Impulse Magnetron Sputtering (HiPIMS) has been investigated. By adopting a combined modeling and experimental approach, the role of magnetic field strength and bias configuration on growth of W films has been studied since they are relevant parameters for the energetic and ionized HiPIMS environment. Modeling results showed that increasing the magnetic strength from 40 to 60 mT led to larger W ion fraction in the plasma and, contemporary, to higher ion back-attraction to the target. This, in turn, resulted in a similar W ion fraction in the flux towards the substrate for the two magnetic field strengths considered during the on-time of the voltage pulse. On the contrary, the W ion fraction became significantly different in the afterglow and the same happened to the ion flux composition. Exploiting the studied discharges, W films have been grown applying at substrate negative pulsed bias voltages, both synchronized and delayed to the voltage pulse onset. Films morphology, microstructure, residual stress, composition and density have been examined. In light of plasma differences retrieved from the numerical investigation, film growth and properties are discussed.

Effect of bias voltage and nitrogen content on the morphological, structural, mechanical, and corrosion resistance properties of micro-alloyed Ti1−xAl0.8xP0.2XNy films deposited by high power impulse magnetron sputtering

The applications of multicomponent coatings (such as doped ternary or quaternary coatings) with superior functional properties have been shown to efficiently and sustainably improve the life span of engineering materials. This study reports the synergistic effect of negative substrate bias voltages Us and reactive gas QN2 ratio on the properties of phosphorous (P) microalloyed Ti1−xAl0.8xP0.2xN multicomponent coatings deposited using high power impulse magnetron sputtering. It is found that an increase of Us enhances the densification of the deposited coatings, with mixed cubic (c)-TiN and cubic (c)-AlN phases, as identified from the XRD pattern analysis. Furthermore, Raman spectroscopy showed that the incorporation of Al and P into the TiN structure increases the gap region between the acoustic and optic bands. An optimized mechanical property of the coatings, with a maximum hardness of 28.6 GPa was measured at Us = − 40 V and QN2 = 7 SCCM, and improved adhesion of coatings with H/E &amp;gt; 0.081, was possible. Improved corrosion resistance was also measured for microalloyed TiAlPN coatings. The microalloying of P with TiAlN has, thus, been shown to affect both the anodic and cathodic reactions and inhibit the corrosion of AISI 5206 steel.

Optimization of Processing Parameters and Adhesive Properties of Aluminum Oxide Thin-Film Transition Layer for Aluminum Substrate Thin-Film Sensor.

A thin-film strain micro-sensor is a cutting force sensor that can be integrated with tools. Its elastic substrate is an important intermediate to transfer the strain generated by the tools during cutting to the resistance-grid-sensitive layer. In this paper, 1060 aluminum is selected as the elastic substrate material and aluminum oxide thin film is selected as the transition layer between the aluminum substrate and the silicon nitride insulating layer. The Stoney correction formula applicable to the residual stress of the aluminum oxide film is derived, and the residual stress of the aluminum oxide film on the aluminum substrate is obtained. The influence of Sputtering pressure, argon flow and negative substrate bias process parameters on the surface quality and sputtering power of the aluminum oxide thin film is discussed. The relationship model between process parameters, surface roughness, and sputtering rate of thin films is established. The sputtering process parameters for preparing an aluminum oxide thin film are optimized. The micro-surface quality of the aluminum oxide thin film obtained before and after the optimization of the process parameters and the surface quality of Si3N4 thin film sputtered on alumina thin film before and after the optimization are compared. It is verified that the optimized process parameters of aluminum oxide film as a transition layer can improve the adhesion between the insulating-layer silicon nitride film and the aluminum substrate.

Bias-assisted epitaxial Ir/YSZ (1 0 0) substrate for diamond nucleation and growth

Iridium (Ir) films were deposited on yttrium stabilized zirconia (YSZ) substrates by bias-assisted RF magnetron sputtering. The orientation of Ir films can be orientally modulated by negative substrate bias, and then used for diamond nucleation and growth by microwave plasma chemical vapor deposition technology combined with the bias-enhanced nucleation process. The morphology, microstructure and composition of Ir and diamond films were investigated by scanning electron microscope (SEM), atomic force microscope, X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The morphological characterizations of Ir films showed that the grain shape was more uniform and regular symmetry with the increase of substrate negative bias voltage. XRD showed that the crystal orientation of the Ir films changed from (111) texture to (200) texture, and the optimal (200) preferred orientation is achieved under a substrate bias of −150 V. SEM images of diamond films exhibited that the diamond islands gradually merge into continuous diamond films and present a high degree of epitaxy. The crystalline quality of the central region of the epitaxial diamond films is higher than that of the edge region due to the substrate temperature gradient. The Raman full width at half maximum of the central region was 5.75 cm−1.

Development and Evaluation of Copper Based Transparent Heat Reflectors Obtained by Magnetron Sputtering.

Within the next few years climate change is likely to become a major concern for mankind. In addition, the current electronic components shortage crisis has led to an urgent need for alternative solutions in the main industry sectors (the raw materials, manufacturing, and construction industries). The current trends of research are focused on developing smart materials with functional properties, using abundant raw materials. The energy saving efforts are sustained in the glazing industries by several approaches based on dielectric-metal-dielectric multilayer structures. The use of silver to achieve a high reflectivity in near-infrared spectral range has been proposed and is already adopted as a commercially available solution. This work is focused on developing a transparent heat reflector (THR) with prefigured optical properties, using copper as a reflective layer, a material that is more abundant and cheaper than silver. The conductive copper layers obtained by the High Power Impulse Magnetron Sputtering (HiPIMS) method were interposed between two silicon nitride layers deposited by the Radio-Frequency Magnetron Sputtering (RFMS) technique. The structural, optical, and elemental composition of monolayers was investigated, qualifying each individual material for use in the multilayer structure. The time stability of films deposited on microscope glass substrates was also investigated, as an important criterion for the selection of monolayers. The obtained results revealed that the SiNx/Cu/SiNx with the Cu layer deposited by using a negative substrate bias of −100 V showed the most stable behavior over time. Optical modeling was performed to design a THR multilayer structure, which was successfully obtained experimentally. A maximum optical transparency as high as 75% in the visible range and a reflectivity of ~ 85% in near infrared spectral interval was confirmed for the experimentally obtained multilayer structures.