Structural and magnetic properties of micropolycrystalline cobalt thin films fabricated by direct current magnetron sputtering

Pure cobalt(Co)thin films were fabricated by direct current magnetron sputtering,and the effects of sputtering power and pres-sure on the microstructure and electromagnetic properties of the films were investigated.As the sputtering power increases from 15 to 60 W,the Co thin films transition from an amorphous to a polycrystalline state,accompanied by an increase in the intercrystal pore width.Simultaneously,the resistivity decreases from 276 to 99μΩ·cm,coercivity increases from 162 to 293 Oe,and in-plane magnetic aniso-tropy disappears.As the sputtering pressure decreases from 1.6 to 0.2 Pa,grain size significantly increases,resistivity significantly de-creases,and the coercivity significantly increases(from 67 to 280 Oe),which can be attributed to the increase in defect width.Corres-pondingly,a quantitative model for the coercivity of Co thin films was formulated.The polycrystalline films sputtered under pressures of 0.2 and 0.4 Pa exhibit significant in-plane magnetic anisotropy,which is primarily attributable to increased microstress.

Preparation and Properties of Cu-Containing High-entropy Alloy Nitride Films by Magnetron Sputtering on Titanium Alloy

Magnetron sputtering deposition with regulated Cu target power was used for depositing Cu-containing high-entropy alloy nitride(Cu-(HEA)N)films on TC4 titanium alloy substrates.The microscopic morphologies,surface compositions,and thicknesses of the films were characterized using SEM+EDS;the anti-corrosion,wear resistance and antibacterial properties of the films in simulated seawater were investigated.The experimental results show that all four Cu-(HEA)N films are uniformly dense and contained nanoparticles.The film with Cu doping come into contact with oxygen in the air to form cuprous oxide.The corrosion resistance of the(HEA)N film without Cu doping on titanium alloy is better than the films with Cu doping.The Cu-(HEA)N film with Cu target power of 16 W shows the best wear resistance and antibacterial performance,which is attributed to the fact that Cu can reduce the coefficient of friction and exacerbate corrosion,and the formation of cuprous oxide has antibacterial properties.The findings of this study provide insights for engineering applications of TC4 in the marine field.

Structural and optoelectronic properties of AZO thin films prepared by RF magnetron sputtering at room temperature

Al-doped ZnO thin films were prepared on glass substrate using an ultra-high density target by RF magnetron sputtering at room temperature. The microstructure, surface morphology, optical and electrical properties of AZO thin films were investigated by X-ray diffractometer, scanning electron microscope, UV-visible spectrophotometer, four-point probe method, and Hall-effect measurement system. The results showed that all the films obtained were polycrystalline with a hexagonal structure and average optical transmittance of AZO thin films was over 85 % at different sputtering powers. The sputtering power had a great effect on optoelectronic properties of the AZO thin films, especially on the resistivity. The lowest resistivity of 4.5×10^-4 Ω·cm combined with the transmittance of 87.1% was obtained at sputtering power of 200 W. The optical band gap varied between 3.48 and 3.68 eV.

Influence of oxygen gas content on the structural and optical properties of ZnO thin films deposited by RF magnetron sputtering at room temperature

Zinc oxide （ZnO） thin films were deposited on sapphire （0001） substrates at room temperature by radiofrequency （RF） magnetron sputtering at oxygen gas contents of 0%, 25%, 50% and 75%, respectively. The influence of oxygen gas content on the structural and optical properties of ZnO thin films was studied by a surface profile measuring system, X-ray diffraction analysis, atomic force microscopy, and UV spectro- photometry. It is found that the size of ZnO crystalline grains increases first and then decreases with the increase of oxygen gas content, and the maximum grain size locates at the 25% oxygen gas content. The crystalline quality and average optical transmittance （〉90%） in the visi- ble-light region of the ZnO film prepared at an oxygen gas content of 25% are better than those of ZnO films at the other contents. The obtained results can be attributed to the resputtefing by energetic oxygen anions in the growing process.

Properties of doped ZnO transparent conductive thin films deposited by RF magnetron sputtering using a series of high quality ceramic targets

To obtain high transmittance and low resistivity ZnO transparent conductive thin films,a series of ZnO ceramic targets（ZnO：Al,ZnO：（Al,Dy）,ZnO：（Al,Gd）,ZnO：（Al,Zr）,ZnO：（Al,Nb）,and ZnO：（Al,W）） were fabricated and used to deposit thin films onto glass substrates by radio frequency（RF） magnetron sputtering.X-ray diffraction（XRD） analysis shows that the films are polycrystalline fitting well with hexagonal wurtzite structure and have a preferred orientation of the（002） plane.The transmittance of above 86% as well as the lowest resistivity of 8.43 × 10^-3 Ω·cm was obtained.

Influence of boron contents on properties of AlMgB films prepared by RF magnetron sputtering

Ternary AlMgB thin films were synthesized on silicon (100) substrate at 573 K by radio frequency (RF) magnetron sputtering method using one Al/Mg co-target and one boron target. The thickness of the as-deposited thin film was controlled to 500 nm by adjusting deposition time. The influences of sputtering powers on the elemental contents and structural and mechanical properties were investigated by electron probe microanalysis (EPMA), X-ray diffraction (XRD), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM), and nanoindentation system. At the same time, the ball-on-disk tribometer was used to measure the friction behavior of the films. Experimental results indicate that the as-deposited boron-rich films are primarily amorphous structure and possess a dramatic high hardness up to 39 GPa with 99.03 at.% boron. Obviously, it has exceeded the hardness value of 32 GPa of pure AlMgB 14 bulk material prepared by sintering method. Furthermore, the friction coefficients of the thin films exhibit an average value as low as 0.3, which is considered as the effect of self-lubricating.

Structures and optical properties of tungsten oxide thin films deposited by magnetron sputtering of WO_3 bulk:Effects of annealing temperatures

Tungsten oxide thin films were deposited on glass substrates by the magnetron sputtering of WO3 bulk at room temperature. The deposited films were annealed at different temperatures in air. The structural measurements indicate that the films annealed below 300℃ were amorphous, while the films annealed at 400 ℃ were mixed crystalline with hexagonal and triclinic phases of WO3. It was observed that the crystallization of the annealed films becomes more and more distinct with an increase in the annealing temperature. At 400 ℃, nanorod-like structures were observed on the film surface when the annealing time was increased from 60 min to 180 min. The presence of W=O stretching, W-O-W stretching, W-O-W bending and various lattice vibration modes were observed in Raman measurements. The optical absorption behaviors of the films in the range of 450-800 nm are very different with changing annealing temperatures from the room temperature to 400 ℃. After annealing at 400 ℃, the film becomes almost transparent. Increasing annealing time at 400 ℃ can lead to a small blue shift of the optical gap of the film.

Preparation,structure and ferromagnetic properties of the nanocrystalline Ti_(1-x)Mn_xO_2 thin films grown by radio frequency magnetron co-sputtering

This paper reported that the Mn-doped TiO2 films were prepared by radio frequency （RF） magnetron cosputtering. X-ray diffraction measurements indicate that the samples are easy to form the futile structure, and the sizes of the crystal grains grow big and big as the Mn concentration increases. X-ray photoemlssion spectroscopy measurements and high resolution transmission electron microscope photographs confirm that the manganese ions have been effectively doped into the TiO2 crystal when the Mn concentration is lower than 21%. The magnetic property measurements show that the Ti1-xMnxO2 （x = 0.21） films are ferromagnetic at room temperature, and the saturation magnetization, coercivity, and saturation field are 16.0 emu/cm^3, 167.5 × 80 A/m and 3740 × 80 A/m at room temperature, respectively. The room-temperature ferromagnetism of the films can be attributed to the new futile Ti1-xMnxO2 structure formed by the substitution of Mn^4＋ for Ti^4＋ into the TiO2 crystal .lattice, and could be explained by O vacancy （Vo）-enhanced ferromagnetism model.

Influence of Deposition Pressure on Properties of ZnO：Al Films Fabricated by RF Magnetron Sputtering

Transparent conductive aluminum doped zinc oxide（ZnO：Al,AZO） films were prepared on glass substrates by rf（radio frequency） magnetron sputtering from ZnO： 3wt% Al_2O_3 ceramic target. The effect of argon gas pressure（PAr） was investigated with small variations to understand the influence on the electrical, optical and structural properties of the films. Structural examinations using X-ray diffraction（XRD） and scanning electron microscopy（SEM） showed that the ZnO：Al thin films were（002） oriented. The resistivity values were measured by four-point probe with the lowest resistivity of 5.76×10^（-4） Ω？cm（sheet resistance=9.6 Ω/sq. for a thickness=600 nm） obtained at the PAr of 0.3 Pa. The transmittance was achieved from ultravioletvisible（UV-VIS） spectrophotometer, 84% higher than that in the visible region for all AZO thin films. The properties of deposited thin films showed a significant dependence on the PAr.

Microstructure and properties of indium tin oxide thin films deposited by RF-magnetron sputtering

Tin-doped indium oxide （ITO） thin films were prepared using conventional radio frequency （RF） planar magnetron sputtering equipped with IR irradiation using a ceramic target of In2O3/SnO2 with a mass ratio of 1：1 at various IR irradiation temperatures T1 （from room temperature to 400℃）. The refractive index, deposited ratio, and resistivity are functions of the sputtering Ar gas pressure. The microstructure of ITO thin films is related to IR T1, the crystalline seeds appear at T1= 300℃, and the films are amorphous at the temperature ranging from 27℃ to 400℃. AFM investigation shows that the roughness value of peak-valley of ITO thin film （Rp-v） and the surface microstructure of rio thin films have a close relation with T1. The IR irradiation results in a widening value of band-gap energy due to Burstein-Moss effect and the maximum visible transmittance shifts toward a shorter wavelength along with a decrease in the film＇s refractive index. The plasma wavelength and the refractive index of ITO thin films are relative to the T1. XPS investigation shows that the photoelectrolytic properties can be deteriorated by the sub-oxides. The deterioration can be decreased by increasing the oxygen flow rote （fo2）, and the mole ratio of Sn/In in the samples reduces with an increase info2.

Enhanced Photoelectric Property of Mo-C Codoped TiO2 Films Deposited by RF Magnetron Cosputtering

Mo-C codoped TiO2 films were prepared by RF magnetron cosputtering. Ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy, atomic force microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, energy dispersive X-ray Analysis and X-Ray Diffraction were used to study the influences of codoping on energy gap, surface morphology, valence states of elements, ions content and crystal structure, respectively. The concentration of photogenerated carriers was measured by studying photocurrent density, while catalytic property was evaluated by observing degradation rate of methylene blue under visible light. A Mo-doped TiO2 film, whose content of Mo had been optimized in advance, was prepared and later used for subsequent comparisons with codoped samples. The result indicates that Mo-C codoping could curtail the energy gap and shift the absorption edge toward visible range. Under the illumination of visible light, codoped TiO2 films give rise to stronger photocurrent due to smaller band gaps. It is also found that Mo, C codoping results in a porous surface, whose area declines gradually with increasing carbon content. Carbon and Molybdenum doses were delicately optimized. Under the illumination of visible light, sample doped with 9.78at% carbon and 0.36at% Mo presents the strongest photocurrent which is about 8 times larger than undoped TiO2 films, and about 6 times larger than samples doped with Mo only.

Resistance Switching Properties of Ag/Zn Mn_2O_4/p-Si Fabricated by Magnetron Sputtering for Resistance Random Access Memory

A resistance random access memory（RRAM） with a structure of Ag/ZnMn2O4/p-Si was fabricated by magnetron sputtering method. Reliable and repeated switching of the resistance of ZnMn2O4 fi lms was obtained between two well-defi ned states of high and low resistance with a narrow dispersion and 3V switching voltages. Resistance ratio of the high resistance state and low resistance state was found in the range of around 10^3 orders of magnitude and up to about 10^3 test cycles. The retention time of Ag/ZnMn2O4/p-Si device is longer than 10^6 seconds and the resistance ratio between two states remains higher than 10^3 at room temperature, showing a remarkable reliability performance of the RRAM devices for nonvolatile memory application. The equivalent simulation circuits for HRS（high resistance state） and LRS（low resistance state） were also studied by impedance spectroscopy.

Effect of radio-frequency substrate bias on ion properties and sputtering behavior of 2 MHz magnetron sputtering

The effect of radio-frequency substrate bias on ion properties and sputtering behavior of 2 MHz magnetron discharge was investigated. The ion velocity distribution function(IVDF), the maximum ion energy and ion flux density were measured at the substrate by a retarding field energy analyzer. The sputtering behavior was investigated by the electric characteristics of target and bias discharges using voltage–current probe technique. It was found that the substrate bias led to the decrease of sputtering power, voltage and current with the amplitude <7.5%. The substrate bias also led to the broadening of IVDFs and the increase of ion flux density, made the energy divergent of ions impacting the substrate. This effect was further enhanced by increasing bias power and reducing discharge pressure.

Effect of substrate temperature on microstructure and optical properties of single-phased Ag_2O film deposited by using radio-frequency reactive magnetron sputtering method

Using a radio-frequency reactive magnetron sputtering technique, a series of the single-phased Ag20 films are deposited in a mixture of oxygen and argon gas with a flow ratio of 2：3 by changing substrate temperature （Ts）. Effects of the Ts on the microstructure and optical properties of the films are investigated by using X-ray diffractometry, scanning electron microscopy and spectrophotometry. The single-phased Ag20 films deposited at values of Ts below 200℃ are （111） preferentially oriented, which may be due to the smallest free energy of the （111） crystalline face. The film crystallization becomes poor as the value of Ts increases from 100℃ to 225℃. In particular, the Ag20 film deposited at Ts=225℃ loses the （111） preferential orientation. Correspondingly, the film surface morphology obviously evolves from a uniform and compact surface structure to a loose and gullied surface structure. With the increase of Ts value, the transmissivity and the reflectivity of the films in the transparent region are gradually reduced, while the absorptivity gradually increases, which may be attributed to an evolution of the crystalline structure and the surface morphology of the films.

Evolution of the structural and optical properties of silver oxide films with different stoichiometries deposited by direct-current magnetron reactive sputtering

Nitrogen doping of silver oxide （AgxO） film is necessary for its application in transparent conductive film and diodes because intrinsic AgxO film is a p-type semiconductor with poor conductivity. In this work, a series of AgxO films is deposited on glass substrates by direct-current magnetron reactive sputtering at different flow ratios （FRs） of nitrogen to 02. Evolutions of the structure, the refiectivity, and the transmissivity of the film are studied by X-ray diffractometry and sphectrophotometry, respectively. The specular transmissivity and the specular refiectivity of the film decreasing with FR increasing can be attributed to the evolution of the phase structure of the film. The nitrogen does not play the role of an acceptor dopant in the film deposition.

Structure and Tribology Property of Carbon Nitride Films Deposited by MW-ECR Plasma Enhanced Unbalanced Magnetron Sputtering

Carbon nitride films were deposited by a twinned microwave electron cyclotron resonance （ECR） plasma source enhanced unbalanced magnetron sputtering system. The results indicate that the structure of the films is sensitive to the nitrogen content. The increase in the nitrogen flow ratio leads to an increase in the sp3 content and an improvement of the tribological properties.

Influence of O/Ar ratio on the properties of NiO thin film grown with the method of radio-frequency magnetron sputtering

In order to obtain high quality NiO thin film grown with the radio-frequency magnetron sputtering method, the influence of O/Ar ratio on the structure, band-gap, resistivity and optical transmittance of NiO thin films were studied. It was found that the obtained NiO thin film showed （111） preferred orientation and higher transparency in the visible region. With the increasing of O/ Ar ratio from 1：7 to 8： 2, the optical transmittance of NiO thin films decreased and the optical band- gap was between 3. 4 eV and 3. 7 eV, and the sheet resistivity decreased from 5. 4 ~ 107 Ω/ to 1.0 × 10^5 Ω/[]. Our study shows that the properties of NiO thin films can be adjusted in a wide range by adjusting the O/At ratio in the sputtering process.

Effect of Chromium on Structure and Tribological Properties of Hydrogenated Cr/a-C:H Films Prepared via a Reactive Magnetron Sputtering System

Hydrogenated Cr-incorporated carbon films （Cr/a-C：H） are deposited successfully by using a dc reactive mag- netron sputtering system. The structure and mechanical properties of the as-deposited Cr/a-C：H films are characterized systematically by field-emission scanning electron microscope, x-ray diffraction, Raman spectra, nanoindentation and scratch. It is shown that optimal Cr metal forms nanocrystalline carbide to improve the hardness, toughness and adhesion strength in the amorphous carbon matrix, which possesses relatively higher nano-hardness of 15. 7 CPa, elastic modulus of 126.8 GPa and best adhesion strength with critical load （Lc） of 36 N for the Cr/a-C：H film deposited at CH4 flow rate of 20sccm. The friction and wear behaviors of as-deposited Cr/a-C：H films are evaluated under both the ambient air and deionized water conditions. The results reveal that it can achieve superior low friction and anti-wear performance for the Cr/a-C：H film deposited at CH4 flow rate of 20sccm under the ambient air condition, and the friction coetllcient and wear rate tested in deionized water condition are relatively lower compared with those tested under the ambient air condition for each film. Superior combination of mechanical and tribological properties for the Cr/a-C：H film should be a good candidate for engineering applications.

Effects of Substrate Temperature on Properties of Transparent Conductive Ta-Doped TiO_2 Films Deposited by Radio-Frequency Magnetron Sputtering

Ta-doped titanium dioxide films are deposited on fused quartz substrates using the rf magnetron sputtering technique at different substrate temperatures. After post-annealing at 550℃ in a vacuum, all the films are crystallized into the polycrystalline anatase TiO2 structure. The effects of substrate temperature from room temperature up to 350℃ on the structure, morphology, and photoelectric properties of Ta-doped titanium dioxide films are analyzed. The average transmittance in the visible region（400-800 nm） of all films is more than 73%.The resistivity decreases firstly and then increases moderately with the increasing substrate temperature. The polycrystalline film deposited at 150℃ exhibits a lowest resistivity of 7.7 × 10^-4Ω·cm with the highest carrier density of 1.1×10^21 cm^-3 and the Hall mobility of 7.4 cm^2·V^-1s^-1.

Microstructure and properties of indium tin oxide thin films deposited by RF-magnetron sputtering

Tin-doped indium oxide （ITO） thin films were prepared using conventional radio frequency （RF） planar magnetron sputtering equipped with IR irradiation using a ceramic target of In2O3/SnO2 with a mass ratio of 1∶1 at various IR irradiation temperatures T1 （from room temperature to 400?℃）. The refractive index,deposited ratio,and resistivity are functions of the sputtering Ar gas pressure. The microstructure of ITO thin films is related to IR T1,the crystalline seeds appear at T1=300?℃,and the films are amorphous at the temperature ranging from 27?℃ to 400?℃. AFM investigation shows that the roughness value of peak-valley of ITO thin film （R p-v ） and the surface microstructure of ITO thin films have a close relation with T1. The IR irradiation results in a widening value of band-gap energy due to Burstein-Moss effect and the maximum visible transmittance shifts toward a shorter wavelength along with a decrease in the film’s refractive index. The plasma wavelength and the refractive index of ITO thin films are relative to the T1. XPS investigation shows that the photoelectrolytic properties can be deteriorated by the sub-oxides. The deterioration can be decreased by increasing the oxygen flow rate （fo2）,and the mole ratio of Sn/In in the samples reduces with an increase in fo2.