Structural and Optical Properties of TiO2 Thin Films Prepared by RF Reactive Magnetron Sputtering

Titanium oxide films were prepared by RF reactive magnetron sputtering. The effect of sputtering conditions on structural and optical properties was investigated systemically as a function of sputtering pressure(5~20 mTorr) and $O_2/Ar$ flow ratio(0.08~0.4). The results of the X-ray diffraction showed that all films had only the anatase $TiO_2$ phase. At low sputtering pressure and $O_2/Ar$ flow ratio, the films had preferred orientations along [101] and [200] directions. As the sputtering pressure and $O_2/Ar$ flow ratio increased, the intensity of the 101 and 200 diffraction peaks decreased gradually. The microstructure of the sputtered films showed the fine grain size (20nm~50nm) and columnar microcrystals perpendicular to the substrate. With increasing the sputtering pressure and decreasing $O_2/Ar$ flow ratio, the sputtered films showed the more porous columnar structure. XPS analysis showed that stoichiometric $TiO_2$ films were deposited at 7 mTorr sputtering pressure and 0.2 $O_2/Ar$ flow ratio. The results of the X-ray diffraction showed that all films had only the anatase $TiO_2$ phase. Ellipsometeric analysis showed that the refractive index increased from 2.32 to 2.46 as the sputtering pressure decreased. The packing density calculated using the refractive index varied from 0.923 to 0.976, indicating that $TiO_2$films became denser as the sputtering pressure decreased.

RF reactive magnetron sputtering으로 제조한 TiO2 박막의 구조 및 광학적 특성