Plasma Diagnostics and Characterizations of Reactive Magnetron Sputtered Copper Nitride Thin Films

The plasma diagnostics of dc magnetron reactive sputtered copper nitride thin films by Optical emission spectrometer (OES) is investigated and argon / nitrogen effect (Ar/N₂) mixture ratio on plasma parameters and structural properties of sputtered Cu₃N thin films are discussed. Cu₃N thin films of 60.30 nm and 105 nm have been formed on glass substrates at room temperature using Ar(70)/N₂(30) and Ar(50)/N₂(50) working gas discharges respectively. The size of crystallites, grains and particles in the copper nitride thin films have been estimated from X-ray diffractions, Atomic Force Microscope (AFM), and Field Emission Scanning microscope (FESEM) respectively. The properties of sputtered copper nitride thin films are related to the plasma parameter of electrons temperature and density.. An increase in optical transmittance and a decrease in absorbance over the wavelength range were found as the nitrogen percentage increased which result on decrease the film thicknesses. The energy of the optical band gap, E_g obtained in the range of 2.6 to 2.7 eV.