This work studied the simultaneous effect of multiple parameters on the microstructure and topography of TiN thin films deposited by reactive unbalanced DC magnetron sputtering. The simultaneous influence of deposition parameters including pressure, temperature, and power on crystallite size, texture coefficient, microstructure, and roughness parameters was investigated using design of experiments (DoE): the Taguchi method. The results showed that the mean crystallite size of ( 111) and ( 200) planes increase when the temperature and cathode power increase. Furthermore, the increase of cathode power from 50 to 150 W augments the mean of root mean square height (Sq) from 2 to 10 nm. However, the substrate temperature has no considerable effect on the roughness parameters of the surface. Cathode power has also a prominent influence on the skewness of deposited layers in which it abruptly decreases when the power changes from 100 W to 150 W. In other words, all samples deposited at 150 W have negative skewness. It was also shown that the deposition rate is mainly controlled by the cathode power.

No abstract

In this paper, we present a new structure for Ar–N2 plasma jet generation where a pulsed electric field is modified with a second alternating electric field, referred to as mixed electric field. The electric field distribution through the jet tube is simulated for the conventional and newly designed plasma jet. It is demonstrated that the value of the electric field becomes stronger due to mixed electric field, particularly between the tip and ring electrodes through the tube. Not only does the length of plasma jet increase from 15 cm to 30 cm when a mixed electric field is employed, but also the temperature of the substrate surface decreases from 62 °C to 52 °C at the same power, which is favorable for industrial applications. It is shown that introducing more nitrogen into the plasma jet shortens the length of the jet, while the jet length could substantially be improved using the current design. The capability of surface treatment at different electrical power is also evaluated on deposited TiN layers by the conventional and current plasma jet. The surface treatment by the newly designed plasma jet based on mixed electric field shows no detectable damage on the TiN layer, while the conventional plasma jet degrades the surface at equal power. The hydrophilicity of the surface is also measured by the contact angle of a water droplet, which decreases from 66 to 31° after surface treatment, implying the surface becomes more hydrophilic. The temperature distribution on the substrate is also evaluated for Ar–N2 plasma jet and compared with the conventional plasma jet structure.

No abstract

No abstract