Nano-crystalline Zr2ON2 thin films deposited by reactive magnetron sputtering

Zirconium oxynitride films were deposited by RF reactive magnetron sputtering in water vapor–nitrogen atmosphere varying the deposition temperature from RT to 600 °C. The influence of the substrate temperature on the films physical properties was investigated. The obtained films quality was evaluated using optical analysis, X-ray diffraction, X-photoelectron spectroscopy, and Secondary Ion mass spectroscopy. It was found that the variation of the substrate temperature from RT to 600 °C caused the transition from cubic phase of Zr2ON2 to ZrN one, as confirmed by TEM observations. In particular, a co-presence of Zr3N4–ZrN was detected when the deposition was performed at 400 °C. Moreover, Forouhi–Bloomer dispersion equations for extinction coefficient (k) and deconvolution of XPS spectra are utilized to further elucidate chemical structure.