Evolution of structural, surfacial and mechanical properties of titanium–nickel–copper thin films during rapid thermal annealing

The structural, surfacial and nanoscale mechanical properties evolution of Ti–Ni–Cu thin films, prepared by the co-sputtering of TiNi and Cu targets during rapid thermal annealing (RTA) were investigated. Crystallization took place in a few seconds at 480 °C. With increasing annealing time (up to 180 s), roughness increased dramatically, and was far more prominent than in films crystallized by conventional thermal annealing (CTA). Although RTA is energy efficient due to the lower annealing time, the film roughness is less ideal than CTA, which may prove limiting in specific applications. The surface and subsurface chemical states of Ti, Ni and Cu was similar for RTA and CTA processed materials, demonstrating they are exposed to comparable redox potentials during annealing. Using X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS), it was found that the RTA (180 s) and CTA (1 h) films possessed longer range order. The evolution of nanoscale mechanical properties of the RTA films during rapid thermal annealing was also studied.