Preparation and characterization of titanium oxy-nitride thin films

The interest in TiNxOy films has increased recently due to their properties dependence on the N/O ratio. In this work, we studied comparatively the influence of different flow rate ratios of the reactive gases (O2 and N2) on the properties of the TiNxOy films deposited by two different methods: rf pulsed laser deposition (rf PLD) and reactive pulsed magnetron sputtering (RPM). Film structure and composition were studied by XRD and XPS methods, while film surface morphology was analyzed with AFM. Mechanical characteristics as Vickers microhardness and adhesion (scratch tests) were also determined.