Influences of Target Peak Current Density on the Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of TiN Films Deposited by Dual Pulsed Power Magnetron Sputtering

The low kinetic energy and low ionization rate of deposited particle of traditional magnetron sputtering led to low density and poor adhesion of TiN film. The peak current density between cathodic target and anodic chamber was increased several times through the adoption of pulsed power supply mode with low duty cycle, which further enhanced kinetic energy and ionization rate of deposited particle. But the average deposition rate of thin film was significantly reduced. Therefore, a design concept of dual pulsed electric field mode was proposed, which allowed to adjust duration time and target peak current density of the dual pulses. It not only enhanced kinetic energy and ionization rate of deposited particle to satisfy the demand of fabrication of high performance film, but also increased the duration time of pulse to achieve high average deposition rate. In the manuscript, TiN films were deposited by dual pulsed power magnetron sputtering with different target peak current densities of the second pulse stage. The microstructure and mechanical properties of TiN films were characterized using XRD, SEM, nanoindentation and microscratch test. It was found that the TiN film deposited under target peak current density of 0.87 A/cm(2) exhibited finely dense microstructure with average grain size of 17 nm. Additionally, the hardness and film-substrate adhesion of such film were as high as 29.5 GPa and 30.0 N, respectively.