Potential for reactive pulsed-dc magnetron sputtering of nanocomposite VOx microbolometer thin films

Vanadium oxide (VOx) thin films were deposited by reactive pulsed-dc sputtering a metallic vanadium target in argon/oxygen mixtures with substrate bias. Hysteretic oxidation of the vanadium target surface was assessed by measuring the average cathode current during deposition. Nonuniform oxidization of the target surface was analyzed by Raman spectroscopy. The VOx film deposition rate, resistivity, and temperature coefficient of resistance were correlated to oxygen to argon ratio, processing pressure, target-to-substrate distance, and oxygen inlet positions. To deposit VOx in the resistivity range of 0.1–10 Ω-cm with good uniformity and process control, lower processing pressure, larger target-to-substrate distance, and oxygen inlet near the substrate are useful.

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