INFLUENCE OF N2 FLOW RATE ON THE PROPERTIES OF VANADIUM NITRIDE THIN FILMS DEPOSITED BY REACTIVE DC MAGNETRON SPUTTERING

Vanadium nitride (VN) thin films have been deposited on silicon wafer substrates by reactive DC magnetron sputtering with varied nitrogen (N2) flow rates from 5.0 to 8.0 sccm without substrate heating. The crystallinity, morphology, and optical properties of the prepared VN films were investigated by gracing-incidence X-ray diffraction (GIXRD), field emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM), and UV-Vis-NIR spectrophotometer, respectively. The GIXRD pattern shows that the crystal structure of the films is consistent with the face-centered cubic VN structure. An increase in N2 led to a decrease in film thickness and sheet resistance. On the contrary, the reflectance percentage tends to increase with the increase of N2 flow rate. [Copyright information to be updated in the production process].