Preparation of (001) preferentially oriented titanium thin films by ion-beam sputtering deposition on thermal silicon dioxide

We propose the ion-beam sputtering deposition providing Ti thin films of desired crystallographic orientation and smooth surface morphology not obtainable with conventional deposition techniques such as magnetron sputtering and vacuum evaporation. The sputtering was provided by argon broad ion beams generated by a Kaufman ion-beam source. In order to achieve the optimal properties of thin film, we investigated the Ti thin films deposited on an amorphous thermal silicon dioxide using X-ray diffraction, and atomic force microscopy. We have optimized deposition conditions for growing of thin films with the only (001) preferential orientation of film crystallites, and achieved ultra-low surface roughness of 0.55 nm. The deposited films have been found to be stable upon annealing up to 300 °C which is often essential for envisaging subsequent deposition of piezoelectric AlN thin films.