Reactive sputtering of iron in Ar–N2 and Ar–O2 mixtures

This paper reports on the preparation of iron nitride and iron oxide films by DC reactive magnetron sputtering. The reactivity of the Fe–N2 and Fe–O2 systems is compared by the measurement of the total pressure in the deposition chamber, the iron target voltage and the filmsʹ growth rate as a function of the reactive gas flow rate. The Fe–N2 system does not exhibit an instability phenomenon and the total pressure is quite proportional to the nitrogen flow rate. This system exhibits a low reactivity as confirmed by the effect of the nitrogen flow rate on the filmsʹ growth rate. On the other hand, a hysteresis loop occurs for the Fe–O2 system, indicating a higher reactivity for this last system.