저널

This work investigated the effect of duty cycle and pulse frequency on the microstructures and properties of titanium nitride thin films deposited by asymmetric bipolar pulsed DC sputtering system. Oscilloscope traces of the I-V waveforms indicate high power and high current density outputs during the asymmetric bipolar pulsed mode. The grain size decreases with decreasing duty cycle. The duty cycle has a strong influence not only on the microstructural properties but also on the mechanical properties of titanium nitride films. Comparing with the continuous DC sputtering, the titanium nitride films prepared by pulsed DC asymmetric bipolar process exhibit better properties.

Duty cycle;Pulse frequency;Asymmetric bipolar;Pulsed sputtering;