Fabrication of Mg/Al2O3 Nanolaminates using DC/PDC Magnetron Sputtering to Evaluate the Effect of Oxygen Content and Total Pressure for Deposition of Thin-Films

Abstract

Thin films have always shown high sensitivity to its deposition parameters and surface morphology. Magnetron sputtering is known for its high level of consistency in deposition and repeatability. In this study Mg/Al2O3 nanolaminates in a range of 10 to 40 nm were synthesized using Direct current and Pulsed DC sputtering techniques at room temperature on glass substrates and silicon substrate using different oxygen flow rates and varying total pressure conditions to understand its effect on deposition rates and roughness of thin films. It is observed that more power and resources consumed for higher deposition time. Roughness of the film is very sensitive for certain applications like corrosion, Lenses, Implants. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Atomic force microscopy (AFM) were used to characterize the morphology, structure of the thin films. Optical microscopy and X-ray reflectometry (XRD-XRR) techniques confirmed the optical density and thickness of the nanolaminates respectively. It is confirmed that as total pressure and oxygen flow rate rises deposition rate significantly goes down, that impacts deposition time and roughness of thin films.