Relationships among properties of sputtered thin films and sputtering process parameters

This paper focuses on the investigation of the influence of process parameters (pressure, applied power, sputtering time) during the radio frequency magnetron sputtering of nickel, aluminum and combined aluminum-silicon on properties of thin films. The experiments were carried out on the BALZERS PLS 160 radio frequency magnetron sputtering unit, using an argon atmosphere. The sheet resistance and the thickness of the films were measured. The influence of temperature on the sheet resistance was examined as well.