The Influence of the Power Supply of a Magnetron Sputtering System on the Properties of the Deposited TiO2 Films

Abstract

Advantages of fabricating precision optical coatings by magnetron sputtering with a gas discharge powered from a medium-frequency current-variation supply unit are considered. The significance of selecting optimal characteristics and operating modes of the power supply sources of the magnetron sputtering system (MSS) for fabrication of high-quality optical coatings is justified. Using the developed magnetron sputtering facility that comprises a multimode power supply unit of the MSS, samples with thin TiO₂ films were fabricated at different recurrence frequencies f_mag of the current pulses transmitted to the MSS and under other identical sputtering conditions. The samples were tested by laser ellipsometry, atomic force microscopy, X-ray diffractometry, and X-ray reflectometry. The influence of  f_mag on the functional properties of the TiO₂ films, namely, the refractive index, density, and roughness, is shown.