Comparison study on structure of Si and Cu doping CrN films by reactive sputtering

CrN, CrSiN and CrCuN films were deposited by DC magnetron reactive sputtering with hot pressed pure Cr, CrSi, and CrCu targets, respectively. As substrate bias increased from −50 V to −200 V, the preferred orientation of CrN films changed from (1 1 1) to (2 0 0). And the Si doping did not change this condition. However, the Cu doping films kept (2 0 0) orientation all along. CrN films presented typical columnar structure, and the alloying of Si and Cu could restrain columnar growth leading to dense structure. The CrSiN film was composed of nanocrystallites distributed in amorphous Si₃N₄, while no amorphous phase existed in CrCuN films.