Titanium oxynitride thin films deposited by the reactive magnetron sputtering: Structure and physical-mechanical properties

The physical-mechanical properties of titanium oxides and oxynitride films synthesized by pulsed magnetron reactive sputtering deposition technique were investigated. Optical emission spectroscopy was used to characterize magnetron plasma and determine an appropriate regime of films deposition. The structure and surface chemical and physical properties of the films were characterized by X-ray diffraction, Auger electron spectroscopy, atomic force microscopy (AFM). Mechanical characteristics of obtained films which include their roughness, nano-hardness (H) and Young's modulus (E) were studied.