Effect of deposition parameters on the optical properties and microstructure of radio frequency magnetron sputtered ZnSe films

rf sputtering process complexity causes the influence of deposition parameters on the coating properties to be the subject of many papers. Zinc selenide thin films have been deposited by a rf sputtering system on employing different targets and sputtering conditions. The correlation between the thin‐film composition and the target stoichiometry has been analyzed by Rutherford backscattering spectrometry. X‐ray diffraction analysis has been applied to the samples in order to investigate the deposition parameters effect on the film microstructure. The optical properties of coatings realized with different sputtering conditions have been examined in the 5–11 μm wavelength region.