Sb. Amor et al., STRUCTURAL AND OPTICAL-PROPERTIES OF SPUTTERED TITANIA FILMS, Materials science & engineering. B, Solid-state materials for advanced technology, 47(2), 1997, pp. 110-118
Titania thin films have been deposited by the magnetron sputtering met
hod. This process has been used to give improved optical and structura
l properties such as high refractive index and low defect density. A d
etailed investigation has been made to study the influence of the comb
ined effect of both deposition conditions (sputtering pressure and r.f
. power) and post deposition annealing up to 600 degrees C on the comp
osition, structural and optical properties of the titanium oxide films
. The as-deposited films are found to be amorphous. The cristallinity
sets by post deposition annealing. The variation in microstructural pr
operties is explained according to the basis of the enhanced mobility
of the sputtered particles at high r.f. power and low sputtering press
ure. The changes in the stoichiometry are attributed to the preferenti
al sputtering and microstructural evolution. The stresses determined b
y the bending beam method are found to be compressive, the highest val
ues are obtained in the coatings exhibiting the most dense structure.
Both, those structure variations and the deviations from stoichiometry
result in a variation in the optical constants of the sputtered films
. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science S.A.