Water vapour plasma oxidation effects on various thickness titanium films

Abstract

DC-magnetron sputtering technique was used to produce Ti films of different thicknesses on crystalline Si substrates. Oxidation of these films was performed by water vapour at pressure of 10 Pa. Plasma was generated using radio-frequency (RF) energy source. Experimental results indicate that the oxidation kinetics of Ti films depends on film thickness. XRD patterns of thin and thick Ti films oxidized under the same oxidation conditions reveal their different structure and phase composition. The mean surface roughness increases with the increase in titanium film thickness. The oxidation mechanism of Ti films with different thicknesses is discussed on the basis of the obtained experimental results