Silicon Nitride Thin Films Deposited By Reactive Gas-timing Magnetron Sputtering For Protective Coating Applications

Silicon nitride is a promising alternative to carbon based materials for protective coatings, owing to its compatibility with existing silicon-based microfabrication. The complexity of the fabrication processes and contaminations hamper fine-tuning to obtain desirable coating properties. We have explored the reactive gas-timing rf plasma sputtering technique for silicon nitride thin film deposition as an alternative method to fine-tune the film properties. The gas-timing technique controls the on-off sequence of the sputtering gas (Ar) and the reactive gas (N2) during deposition. We focus this investigation to the effect of the Ar:N2 gas timing ratio (10:0, 10:1, 10:3, 10:5, 10:7 and 10:10) on the composition, the morphology, the corrosion resistance, and the hardness properties of the films, in comparison to the films deposited by conventional reactive sputtering with Ar-N2 gas mixture. These deposited silicon nitride films were characterized by Auger electron spectroscopy, Raman