Deposition of ZrON thin films by reactive magnetron sputtering using a hollow cylindrical target

ZrON films were prepared on quartz glass and glassy carbon substrates by reactive sputtering using a hollow cylindrical cathode with a Zr target. In the cathode cylinder, the plasma density increased with increasing lateral distance from the axial center of the cylinder, whereas it decreased with increasing lateral distance from the cylinder. The damage to the substrates during film deposition was evaluated by the transmission spectra of Rhodamine B films before and after sputtering. The film deposition was performed in Ar and N2 gas flows with various O2 flow rates while heating the substrates with a ceramic heater. Scanning electron microscope observation indicated homogeneous thickness of the films. X-ray diffraction measurement showed that the ZrON films were a mixture of crystalline ZrN, Zr2ON2, Zr7O8N4, and ZrO2 phases. The fractions of these crystalline phases in the films depended on the O2 flow rate. X-ray photoemission spectroscopy measurement and its analysis revealed that the binding energy of...