Study on reactive sputtering of titanium in the linear magnetron discharge

The well known phenomena associated with processes occurring on the target surface during reactive magnetron sputter deposition are quantitatively different when applying different systems. This paper presents the results of investigations of target poisoning in the case of a DC linear magnetron discharge with a titanium cathode working in Ar/N2 gas mixture. The electrical parameters of the discharge and the optical emission of the species (Ti, TiN, Ar, Ar+, N2, N2+) in the plasma are examined in relation to the gas mixture composition. The dependences of the cathode voltage and the emission of Ti and TiN species on the gas composition have clearly revealed a narrow range in N2 relative concentration which corresponds to the rapid poisoning of the target surface.