The influence of pulsed magnetron sputtering on topography and crystallinity of TiO2 films on glass

The pulsed magnetron sputtering process is a way of increasing the number of sputterable materials in comparison to the conventionally used DC process, to enhance the stability and efficiency of the sputtering process and, not least, to obtain films with ‘new’ properties. st mentioned effect means that the properties can be changed, e.g. the optical and mechanical properties. These are investigated by various analytical methods, especially by atomic force microscopy (AFM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) to characterize the topography and the crystalline phase of the layers. From the experimental results and from literature results we find a good conformity with the condensation model given by Löb [1]. We conclude that the substrate temperature and the energy of the particles impinging on the substrate are the relevant parameters which determine the film structure. The nucleation of the rutile phase is favoured by the pulse sputter technique. Pulse sputtered and DC sputtered TiO2 layers are compared with regards to optical, mechanical and structural properties.