Preparation Of Zr-Cu Alloy Films By Magnetron Sputtering Technique

In this paper, ZrxCu1-x (0.15≤x≤0.95) binary amorphous alloy thin films were prepared on Si (100) substrates by magnetron sputtering technique. Energy diffraction spectrum (EDS) was used to measure the compositions of the films. Surface profiler was employed to study the deposition rate of the films with the sputtering parameters, such as sputtering time, substrate temperature and sputtering power. X-ray diffractometer (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) were used to study the structure of the alloy films with sputtering parameters.The EDS results indicate that, the compositions of the films and targets are basically consistent. The deposition rate of the alloy films is increased with sputtering time and sputtering power and decreased with the substrate temperature.The XRD results suggest that, ZrxCu1-x films with different compositions show high glass forming trend at room temperature. In the whole composition range, the glass forming ability (GFA) of the alloy films increases with x, which is different from the counterpart bulk alloy. When the substrate temprature is increased to 300℃, only Zr50Cu50 and Zr35Cu65 are amorphous.High substrate temperature and bias voltage are unfavorable to the formation of amorphous structure. The crystal orientation of the substrate and the thickness of the film have little influence on the structure of the film. Higher heat treatment tempetature is necessery for crystallization.The XRD pattern of Zr50Cu50 film prepared by 200 W shows two amorphous peaks, which is different from the others. Observation by TEM shows that this film is amorphous, indicating that there is only one amorphous phase exists in Zr50Cu50 film. The differential scanning calorimetry trace of the film exhibit two exothermic peaks, suggesting that the crystallization process of Zr50Cu50 film via a double-stage mode.