Investigation on powder metallurgy Cr–Si–Ta–Al alloy target for high-resistance thin film resistors with low temperature coefficient of resistance

The sputtering target for high-resistance thin film resistors plays a decisive role in temperature coefficient of resistance (TCR). Silicon-rich chromium (Cr)–silicon (Si) target was designed and smelted for high-resistance thin film resistors with low TCR. Valve metal tantalum (Ta) and aluminum (Al) were introduced to the Cr–Si target to improve the performance of the target prepared. The measures for grain refining in smelting Cr–Si–Ta–Al target were taken to improve the performance of the prepared target. The mechanism and role of grain refinement were discussed in the paper. The phase structure of the prepared target was detected by X-ray diffraction (XRD). Rate of temperature drop was studied to reduce the internal stress of alloy target and conquer the easy cracking disadvantage of silicon-rich target. The electrical properties of sputtered thin film resistors were tested to evaluate the performance of the prepared target indirectly.