Microstructure and Oxidation Behavior of Metal V Films Deposited by Magnetron Sputtering

Direct-current magnetron sputtering (DCMS) was applied to prepare vanadium (V) films on Si substrate. The influence of substrate temperature (T(s)) and target–substrate distance (D(t–s)) on phase structure and surface morphology of V films were investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscope (AFM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The results show that the crystallinity of the V films increases with increasing T(s) and decreasing D(t–s). The film deposited at T(s) = 400 °C and D(t–s) = 60 mm exhibits the best crystallinity and <111> preferred orientation with a regular tetrahedral surface morphology. Oxidation behavior of the V thin films has also been studied by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS).