Physical Vapor Deposition Sputtering Research Articles

Investigation of Cu-doped amorphous carbon film in improving corrosion resistance and interfacial conductivity of proton exchange membrane fuel cell

This study investigated Cu-doped a-C films prepared under a substrate bias gradually reducing from 120 to 60 V and different Cu target currents of 0, 0.15, 0.2, 0.3, 0.5 A, respectively, using closed field unbalanced magnetron sputtering physical vapour deposition technique. While the Cu-doped a-C film at the lowest Cu target current of 0.15 A (A0.15) remained an amorphous microstructure, Cu nanoprecipitates occurred at Cu target currents of 0.2–0.5 A. All the Cu-doped a-C films prepared exhibited good combination of corrosion resistance to a corrosive chemical mixture of 0.5 M H2SO4 + 5 ppm HF (as suggested by the corrosion current densities) and interfacial electric conductivity (as demonstrated by the interfacial contact resistance, ICR). Among all coatings, A0.15 showed the best corrosion resistance and interfacial electric conductivity, which is attributable to the precipitate-free Cu-doped amorphous microstructure. The measured current density of A0.15 was 1.95 × 10−7 A/cm2 at 0.6 V (vs. SCE) during potentiodynamic polarization, which was lower than that of the Cu-free a-C film at 7.34 × 10−7 A/cm2. The ICR value of A0.15 was 4.40 mΩcm2 at an assembly pressure of 1.4 MPa, which is about one third of the Cu-free a-C film. This study demonstrates a new deposition strategy combining Cu-doping and the control of substrate bias to improve the corrosion resistance and interfacial electric conductivity of a-C films for PEMFC.

Wear performance of Ti-based alloy coatings on 316L SS fabricated with the sputtering method: Relevance to biomedical implants.

This investigation was conducted to encapsulate 316L SS with a Ti-based alloy coating. The aim was to fabricate a coating using TiN, TiO2, and TiCoCr powders on 316L SS through the physical vapor deposition (PVD) sputtering process. The powders were consecutively coated on 316L SS through the PVD sputtering process with coating durations of 30, 60, and 90 min. Further microhardness, surface roughness, microabrasion, and adhesion strength tests were also carried out. A 60% improvement in abrasion resistance was observed in TiCoCr-coated samples compared to the uncoated substrate. The X-ray diffraction results confirmed the optimal formation of Ti alloy coatings with corresponding orientation over the SS substrates. Moreover, TiCoCr with a 90 min coating duration had much better surface characteristics than TiO2 and TiN. The 90 min coating duration should be optimal for coating in steel for bio-implants.

Investigating mechanical properties of B4C films produced by magnetron sputtering PVD

Boron carbide thin films have recently garnered significant interest across various fields owing to their exceptional physical and chemical properties, such as high wear and corrosion resistance, as well as high hardness, being the third hardest material after diamond and cubic boron nitride. Different coating methods, including physical vapor deposition (PVD) and chemical vapor deposition (CVD), are used to produce these films. In this study, boron carbide thin films were deposited on single-crystal silicon substrates and high-speed steel (HSS) using magnetron sputtering at varying bias voltages (0, −100, and −200 V) in an argon atmosphere utilizing a B4C target. The process temperature, target power, and revolution speed were held constant at 150 °C, 1.3 kW, and 2 rpm, respectively. The mechanical, morphological, and microstructure properties of the deposited films were examined using FE-SEM, XRD, FTIR, Raman, XPS, Scratch test and Ferroxyl test. Nanoindentation test was conducted to evaluate the hardness values of the films. The experimental findings suggest that substrate bias significantly affects the mechanical, structural, and morphological properties of B4C coatings.

Fabrication of WO3[formula omitted] heterostructure photoanode by PVD for photoelectrochemical applications

The bottleneck of cost-effective green hydrogen production through the photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting process is lack of suitable materials. To address the material challenge, we have fabricated a heterostructure nanorod of WO3/ Fe2O3 utilizing a high-throughput radio frequency (RF) sputtering Physical vapor deposition (PVD) technique. With optimized parameters, such as as-deposited Fe of 70 nm, a deposition angle of 70°, and an annealing temperature of 500 °C, WO3/ Fe2O3 photoanodes with a morphology of vertically aligned nanorods were fabricated. A rod-like morphology with WO3 nanoparticles was synthesized by the addition of 15 nm of tungsten oxide (WO3) to the Fe2O3 nanorods. To study the optical behavior and morphology, the pristine and WO3 /Fe2O3 heterostructure thin films were characterized by ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy (UPS), ultraviolet UV, X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). This has led to a 5-fold improvement in PEC performance (0.588 mA/cm2 at 1.23 V vs. RHE for the mixture compared to 0.122 mA/cm2 at 1.23 V vs. RHE for the pristine). As a co-catalyst, WO3 successfully suppressed recombination and assisted in the hole transfer, which immediately increased the photocurrent density of fabricated photoanodes. This was illustrated via the electrochemical impedance spectra including both Nyquist and Mott-Schottky plots with or without illumination. When sustained in steady illumination for 900 s, this photoanode displayed highly stable behavior under PEC conditions.

Characterizing the composition, structure, and mechanical properties of magnetron sputtering physical vapor deposition TiN and TiSiN coatings

Ti(Si)N coatings were deposited on Si wafers via magnetron sputtering physical vapor deposition technique. Scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy were used to study the morphologies, grain size, and thicknesses of the different films. X-ray diffraction confirmed the formation of the titanium nitride cubic phase. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) was used to study the silicon and oxygen levels in the films, and high resolution XPS was used to determine the surface oxide to nitride ratios as well as the silicon–nitrogen environment. The hardness of these films was then determined with nanoindentation. It was shown that grain size and film density could be controlled by the Si level and the ion bombardment to eliminate the oxygen level in the nitride coatings, which led to the harder films. It was suggested that due to the miscibility of Si, a ternary TiSiN solid solution was formed. Stronger (200) orientation of the TiN B1-NaCl crystals was associated with increased hardness of the coatings. This crystalline structure was preserved after incorporating Si.

Real-time monitoring of plasma synthesis of functional materials by high power impulse magnetron sputtering and other PVD processes: towards a physics-constrained digital twin

Plasma synthesis of thin films by physical vapour deposition (PVD) enables the creation of materials that drive significant innovations in modern life. High value manufacturing demand for tighter quality control and better resource utilisation can be met by a digital twin capable of modelling the deposition process in real time. Optical emission spectroscopy (OES) was combined with process parameters to monitor all stages of both high power impulse magnetron sputtering and conventional magnetron sputtering processes to provide a robust method of determining process repeatability and a reliable means of process control for quality assurance purposes. Strategies and physics-based models for the in-situ real-time monitoring of coating thickness, composition, crystallographic and morphological development for a CrAlYN/CrN nanoscale multilayer film were developed. Equivalents to the ion-to-neutral ratio and metal-to-nitrogen ratios at the substrates were derived from readily available parameters including the optical emission intensities of Cr I, N2 (C–B) and Ar I lines in combination with the plasma diffusivity coefficient obtained from the ratio of substrate and cathode current densities. These optically-derived equivalent parameters identified the deposition flux conditions which trigger the switch of dominant crystallographic texture from (111) to (220) observed in XRD pole figures and the development of coating morphology from faceted to dense for a range of magnetron magnetic field configurations. OES-based strategies were developed to monitor the progress of chamber evacuation, substrate cleaning and preventative chamber wall cleaning to support process optimisation and equipment utilisation. The work paves the way to implementation of machine learning protocols for monitoring and control of these and other processing activities, including coatings development and the use of alternative deposition techniques. The work provides essential elements for the creation of a digital twin of the PVD process to both monitor and predict process outcomes such as film thickness, texture and morphology in real time.

Machine Learning-Based Characterization of the Nanostructure in a Combinatorial Co-Cr-Fe-Ni Compositionally Complex Alloy Film.

A novel artificial intelligence-assisted evaluation of the X-ray diffraction (XRD) peak profiles was elaborated for the characterization of the nanocrystallite microstructure in a combinatorial Co-Cr-Fe-Ni compositionally complex alloy (CCA) film. The layer was produced by a multiple beam sputtering physical vapor deposition (PVD) technique on a Si single crystal substrate with the diameter of about 10 cm. This new processing technique is able to produce combinatorial CCA films where the elemental concentrations vary in a wide range on the disk surface. The most important benefit of the combinatorial sample is that it can be used for the study of the correlation between the chemical composition and the microstructure on a single specimen. The microstructure can be characterized quickly in many points on the disk surface using synchrotron XRD. However, the evaluation of the diffraction patterns for the crystallite size and the density of lattice defects (e.g., dislocations and twin faults) using X-ray line profile analysis (XLPA) is not possible in a reasonable amount of time due to the large number (hundreds) of XRD patterns. In the present study, a machine learning-based X-ray line profile analysis (ML-XLPA) was developed and tested on the combinatorial Co-Cr-Fe-Ni film. The new method is able to produce maps of the characteristic parameters of the nanostructure (crystallite size, defect densities) on the disk surface very quickly. Since the novel technique was developed and tested only for face-centered cubic (FCC) structures, additional work is required for the extension of its applicability to other materials. Nevertheless, to the knowledge of the authors, this is the first ML-XLPA evaluation method in the literature, which can pave the way for further development of this methodology.

DLC-Coated Thermoplastics: Tribological Analyses under Lubricated Rolling-Sliding Conditions

The goal of this work is to evaluate the potential of diamond-like carbon (DLC) coatings on thermoplastic polymers for friction and wear reduction in highly stressed rolling–sliding contacts. Therefore, hydrogen-containing DLC coatings were deposited on the polymer surface by a low-temperature high power pulsed magnetron sputtering (HPPMS) physical vapor deposition (PVD) process. The rolling-sliding contact between coated polyamide 66 (PA66) or coated polyether ether ketone (PEEK) against case-hardened steel 16MnCr5 is investigated in a twin-disk tribometer at normal loads up to FN = 1,000 N, sum velocities between 1 m/s ≤ vΣ ≤ 16 m/s and slip ratios up to s = 50%. Results show a friction reduction with the application of DLC on the considered polymers compared to uncoated polymers under specific lubrication conditions. High solid losses caused by the polymer’s internal damping properties dominate the temperature behavior of the polymer, even when coated with DLC. Regarding the wear behavior, DLC coatings show potential especially under severe mixed lubrication conditions with high-solid load portion and sliding. The knowledge gained about coated polymers can be used to improve the overall tribological performance in terms of friction and wear of thermoplastic machine elements like gears.

Nanostructured MoS2 and WS2 Photoresponses under Gas Stimuli.

This study was on the optoelectronic properties of multilayered two-dimensional MoS2 and WS2 materials on a silicon substrate using sputtering physical vapor deposition (PVD) and chemical vapor deposition (CVD) techniques. For the first time, we report ultraviolet (UV) photoresponses under air, CO2, and O2 environments at different flow rates. The electrical Hall effect measurement showed the existence of MoS2 (n-type)/Si (p-type) and WS2 (P-type)/Si (p-type) heterojunctions with a higher sheet carrier concentration of 5.50 × 105 cm−2 for WS2 thin film. The IV electrical results revealed that WS2 is more reactive than MoS2 film under different gas stimuli. WS2 film showed high stability under different bias voltages, even at zero bias voltage, due to the noticeably good carrier mobility of 29.8 × 102 cm2/V. WS2 film indicated a fast rise/decay time of 0.23/0.21 s under air while a faster response of 0.190/0.10 s under a CO2 environment was observed. Additionally, the external quantum efficiency of WS2 revealed a remarkable enhancement in the CO2 environment of 1.62 × 108 compared to MoS2 film with 6.74 × 106. According to our findings, the presence of CO2 on the surface of WS2 improves such optoelectronic properties as photocurrent gain, photoresponsivity, external quantum efficiency, and detectivity. These results indicate potential applications of WS2 as a photodetector under gas stimuli for future optoelectronic applications.

Thin-Film Coating Methods: A Successful Marriage of High-Quality and Cost-Effectiveness—A Brief Exploration

In this review, several cost-effective thin-film coating methods, which include dip-coating, spin-coating, spray-coating, blade-coating, and roll-coating, are presented. Each method has its own set of advantages and disadvantages depending on the proposed application. Not all of them are appropriate for large-scale production due to their certain limitations. That is why the coating method should be selected based on the type and size of the substrate, including the thickness and surface roughness of the required thin films. The sol–gel method offers several benefits, such as simplicity in fabrication, excellent film uniformity, the capacity to cover surfaces of any size and over vast areas, and a low processing temperature. Nevertheless, these coating methods are somewhat economical and well managed in low-budget laboratories. Moreover, these methods offer thin films with good homogeneity and low-surface roughness. Furthermore, some other thin-film deposition methods, for instance, physical vapor deposition (PVD) and chemical vapor deposition (CVD), are also discussed. Since CVD is not restricted to line-of-sight deposition, a characteristic shared by sputtering, evaporation, and other PVD methods, many manufacturing methods favor it. However, these techniques require sophisticated equipment and cleanroom facilities. We aim to provide the pros and cons of thin-film coating methods and let the readers decide the suitable coating technique for their specific application.

Multifunctional Drone-Based Antenna for Satellite Communication

This communication presents a drone-to-satellite beam-forming antenna with multifunctional purposes. A glass material with a gradient coating configuration is exploited to realize a transparent structure. Beam tilting is obtained by controlling the phase distribution of an antenna by means of an inexpensive and passive surface. Simultaneously, solar cells are implemented on the proposed structure for solar energy harvesting using the transparency feature of the surface. The sputtering physical vapor deposition process is used to layer a thin coat of indium tin oxide (ITO) onto the glass. A conceptual beam tilting with a multipurpose design is introduced for drone2sat communication and energy harvest. The proposed communication structure works at a frequency of 3 GHz and covers a 60° spatial beamwidth. The directivity and propagation characteristics are preserved by this configuration. To validate the design performance, a prototype has been fabricated and a satisfactory agreement between the numerical results and experimental ones is achieved. The proposed structure can enhance the multifunctional designs, which could offer advantages for real-world space drone communications.

Hydrogen-free Cu: Amorphous-C: N Coating on TC4 Titanium Alloy: The Role of Gas Ratio on Mechanical and Antibacterial Potency

Ti-6Al-4V alloy, also called TC4, substrates are sputter-deposited by Cu: amorphous-C: N (Cu:a-C:N) thin coatings using planar magnetron sputtering physical vapor deposition device. Mixtures of argon and nitrogen at different ratios are selected as the sputtering atmosphere, and no hydrocarbon gas is used. Correlation of microstructure, morphology, surface properties, antibacterial characteristics, and mechanical performance of the coatings to the N2/Ar ratio are discussed. The outcomes from Raman spectroscopy confirm the construction of the DLC (Diamond Like Carbon) phase in the microstructure of the coatings. The thin coatings synthesized at higher N2/Ar ratios show more increased amount of sp 3 hybridization, improved wettability, higher internal stress, and enhanced mechanical properties, i.e., higher hardness. However, these are accompanied by lower antibacterial performance. Plastic hardness (H) value of the thin coatings increased from about 2 GPa to 13 GPa by increasing N2/Ar ratio. However, bacterial reduction percent of the thin coatings decreased from 100 to 65% as N2/Ar ratio increased. The resultant outcomes reveal the critical role of the N2/Ar ratio on tailoring the antibacterial properties of Cu: a-C: N thin coatings as well as mechanical ones.

Self-lubricating triboactive (Cr,Al)N+Mo:S coatings for fluid-free applications

Within this study, self-lubricating and triboactive (Cr,Al)N+Mo:S coatings were developed and investigated for the deposition on components in a low-temperature physical vapor deposition (PVD) hybrid process. Therefore, direct current magnetron sputtering (dcMS) and high power pulse magnetron sputtering (HPPMS) PVD were combined by using an industrial coating machine. Hereby, it was possible to deposit dense and smooth triboactive, self-lubricating nitride coatings with different chemical compositions and architectures on 16MnCr5E samples. Two coating architectures, a matrix monolayer and a graded coating structure, were developed to evaluate the effect on the tribological behavior. The morphology and coating thickness were analyzed by means of scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Furthermore, the indentation hardness and modulus of indentation as well as the compound adhesion between substrate materials and coating were analyzed. Tribological analyses of (Cr,Al)N+Mo:S-coated and uncoated samples were conducted under fluid-free friction regime at room temperature T = (20 ± 3) °C, a velocity v = 0.1 m/s and a distance s = 1000 m by varying the Hertzian contact pressure from 400 MPa ≤ pH ≤ 1300 MPa against steel counterparts, 100Cr6, in a pin-on-disk (PoD) tribometer. The graded coating architecture of (Cr,Al)N+Mo:S enabled a significant wear and friction reduction. Furthermore, Raman analyses prove the formation of solid lubrication tribofilm containing MoS2, MoO3 MoO2 and MoxOy at the toplayer of a graded (Cr,Al)N+Mo:S coating, which are responsible for the improved tribological behavior.

Effects of Cu Metal Barrier on Electrical Characteristics of Porous Carbon-Doped Oxide Film

Porous carbon-doped oxide (CDO) film is a promising low-dielectric-constant (low-k) material that is used as an insulator in the back-end-of-line interconnects of integrated circuits for 45 nm or below technological nodes. In Cu/porous low-k integrated interconnects, a barrier is required to prevent the migration of Cu into the low-k insulating dielectric, avoiding electrical instability and degradation of reliability. Cobalt (Co) and ruthenium (Ru), deposited by physical vapor deposition (PVD), were evaluated as Cu barriers in this study. Their effects on the electrical characteristics of the porous CDO film were compared. Experimental results revealed that Co is a better barrier against Cu diffusion, enhances adhesion, and generates electric stress-induced traps at a lower rate. However, damage to the underlying porous CDO film during Co or Ru PVD sputtering deposition was observed. More damage was detected when a Co barrier was used because vacuum-ultraviolet light irradiation was emitted by Ar plasma for a longer time. Therefore, Co can serve as an alternative material for Cu barrier layer. However, the method of deposition of the Co barrier must be carefully chosen to alleviate damage to the contacting low-k insulating dielectric.

Characterization of Thin Chromium Coatings Produced by PVD Sputtering for Optical Applications

PVD (physical vapor deposition) and CVD (chemical vapor deposition) have gained greater significance in the last two decades with the mandatory shift from electrodeposition processes to clean deposition processes due to environmental, public safety, and health concerns. Due to the frequent use of coatings in several industrial sectors, the importance of studying the chromium coating processes through PVD–sputtering can be realized, investing in a real alternative to electroplated hexavalent chromium, usually denominated by chromium 6, regularly applied in electrodeposition processes of optical products in the automotive industry. At an early stage, experimental tests were carried out to understand which parameters are most suitable for obtaining chromium coatings with optical properties. To study the coating in a broad way, thickness and roughness analysis of the coatings obtained using SEM and AFM, adhesion analyzes with the scratch-test and transmittance by spectrophotometry were carried out. It was possible to determine that the roughness and transmittance decreased with the increase in the number of layers, the thickness of the coating increased linearly, and the adhesion and resistance to climatic tests remained positive throughout the study. Thus, this study allows for the understanding that thin multilayered Cr coatings can be applied successfully to polymeric substrates regarding optical applications in the automotive industry.

On-chip thin-film microtransformer with improved coupling factor for high frequency data transmission

An on-chip thin-film microtransformer with an improved coupling factor is shown in this paper. In addition to the development of this component, the characterization of the microtransformer and its use in the data transmission application are presented. In comparison to previous work, this microtransformer device shows an improved coupling factor. The microtransformer is fabricated on silicon substrate using thin-film technology. The fabrication is based on damascene process and combines material deposition using only sputtering PVD (physical vapor deposition) or CVD a (chemical vapor deposition) processes and chemical-mechanical polishing (CMP) process for patterning. The microtransformer design is a solenoid type device with a magnetic bar core and interleaved winding style. For a magnetic core a CoFeB material is applied. As insulation materials, silicon dioxide and silicon nitride are implemented. The device chip size is 1.6 mm x 0.8 mm. A turns ratio of the microtransformer is 1:1, and the device shows a self-inductance of about 25 nH and an improved coupling factor with a value of 60%.

Optimisation of Mechanical Properties of Gradient Zr-C Coatings.

One of the key components of the designing procedure of a structure of hard anti-wear coatings deposited via Physical Vapour Deposition (PVD) is the analysis of the stress and strain distributions in the substrate/coating systems, initiated during the deposition process and by external mechanical loads. Knowledge of residual stress development is crucial due to their significant influence on the mechanical and tribological properties of such layer systems. The main goal of the work is to find the optimal functionally graded material (FGM) coating’s structure, composed of three functional layers: (1) adhesive layer, providing high adhesion of the coating to the substrate, (2) gradient load support and crack deflection layer, improving hardness and enhancing fracture toughness, (3) wear-resistant top layer, reducing wear. In the optimisation procedure of the coating’s structure, seven decision criteria basing on the state of residual stresses and strains in the substrate/coating system were proposed. Using finite element simulations and postulated criteria, the thickness and composition gradients of the transition layer in FGM coating were determined. In order to verify the proposed optimisation procedure, Zr-C coatings with different spatial distribution of carbon concentration were produced by the Reactive Magnetron Sputtering PVD (RMS PVD) method and their anti-wear properties were assessed by scratch test and ball-on-disc tribological test.

Optimisation of mechanical properties of ZrC multilayer coatings

One of the key issues related to designing a structure of anti-wear coatings is the analysis of the state of stress in the substrate/coating systems, arising from external mechanical loads. In the present work, the object of research was a coating, deposited on a hard substrate consisting of four layers performing different functions: (1) increasing coating/substrate adhesion, (2) improving load support, (3) reducing surface stress and (4) improving crack propagation resistance. The aim of numerical and experimental research was to optimize the structure of the multi-layer coating due to anti-wear properties. For this purpose, an optimisation procedure using finite element modelling was created, in which six original decision criteria were adopted, which are functions of the state of stress and strain in the substrate/coating system. Proof of the concept of optimisation procedure (virtual coating prototypes) was carried out on the example of multi-layer ZrC coatings with different carbon concentrations deposited by reactive magnetron sputtering physical vapour deposition. Experimental verification of selected prototypes with the use of scratch and Rockwell C adhesion tests and wear assessment via ball-on-disc method confirms the relationship between the values of adopted decision criteria and their anti-wear properties. In particular, for prototypes characterized by low values of selected criteria, higher critical loads and lower wear ratios were obtained.

Microstructures of titanium oxide thin films grown continuously on stainless steel wires by PVD in an inverted cylindrical magnetron: Towards an industrial process

Producing colored coatings by Physical Vapor Deposition (PVD) in an in-line way is an interesting industrializing process. Moreover, the durability of vacuum coatings is an advantage for architectural applications such as outdoor decoration. In this project, titanium dioxide coatings were produced over moving stainless steel wires via direct current (DC) reactive magnetron sputtering PVD in an inverted cylindrical magnetron. The samples were characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) coupled with ASTAR (Automated crystal orientation mapping on TEM -ACOM- with precession tool -DigiSTAR-) orientation-phase mapping and EDS (Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy) chemical mapping. The microstructure of TiOx thin films is analyzed as a function of the O2 flux in the chamber. In the metallic mode, a 300 nm polycrystalline hexagonal Ti film is obtained in 2 min 30 s at 1000 W. For the same power and same time but in the poisoned mode, a 40 nm titanium dioxide film composed of both rutile and anatase columnar grains is obtained. A peculiar mode is the transition one, where in a single pass through the chamber a multilayer of ≈230 nm hexagonal Ti and ≈70 nm pure rutile titanium dioxide is grown. This multilayer is a result of a heterogeneous magnetic field, hence of the chamber poisoning. All these thin films present chemical, structure and grain size gradients because of an original process (in-line and cylindrical inverted magnetron) with plasma density heterogeneity.

Microstructure Evolution of NiTi Magnetron Sputtered Thin Film on Different Substrates

Understanding the microstructure evolution of metal thin films on various substrates is essential for developing thin films that need specific requirements. The microstructure of thin films has been identified to be related to the mobility of the adatoms during growth. Recently, the theory of non-classical crystallisation of thin films has been introduced to explain the structure formation in chemical vapor deposition (CVD) and physical vapor deposition (PVD) processes. Much work has been conducted on CVD deposited thin films, while little data appears on PVD techniques. The effect of substrate material on the microstructure of the deposited nickel-titanium (NiTi) thin film and its optical absorbance is studied in this work. Three different substrates with identified surface conditions were used to deposit thin films of NiTi in the same chamber under the same processing conditions. The NiTi thin film was deposited using radio frequency (RF) PVD sputtering process on stainless steel (SS), aluminium (Al) and copper (Cu) substrates. The results were analysed in view of state of art structure models and mechanisms. The microstructure was studied by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The optical absorbance was measured by spectrophotometery. The results have shown that the structure and morphology of the grown films have varied in all conditions. Amorphous structures were obtained for Al and Cu substrates, while crystalline structures were obtained for the stainless-steel substrate at the same sputtering conditions.