No.2（2007）13.Structural investigation for Mg-Ni alloy film deposited by ion beam sputtering

Atsushi Mitsuo, Kazuo Morikawa, Satoshi Uchida, Masahiro Kawaguchi

An ion beam sputtering system was utilized to synthesize magnesium-nickel alloy films having various concentration ratios of Mg and Ni. This technique has a significant advantage against the conventional coating methods, being free from ion collisions, thermal effects or radiation damage from the generated plasma. Incident argon ions to the target were generated by an electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) source, and extracted to a deposition chamber which is kept at 2x10-2 Pa of pressure. In order to control the concentration ratio of Ni to Mg in the film, the target area ratio was changed with the combination of pure metal target plates having a sector shape. Deposited Mg-Ni alloy films were characterized by EDX, XRD, XPS and TEM.

Various concentrations of Mg-Ni alloy films were obtained although the film composition was not proportional to the target area ratio. Through XRD analysis, an amorphous-like thin film can be fabricated. Cross-sectional TEM observation showed that the Mg-Ni film deposited on silicon wafer substrates had a multi layer structure consisted with two different Ni concentration layers. It was confirmed that the composition of magnesium alloy films could be controlled by the target area ratio of Ni to Mg.

Keywords

ion beam, sputtering, Magnesium alloy, Nickel, thin film, structure

Back to Contents