Structure transformation of Ti films deposited on SiC single crystal substrates

This paper reports the structure transformation of Ti films deposited on SiC(0001) single crystal substrates using DC magnetron sputtering. Film thickness, sputter power and temperature of deposition were changed to investigate structure transformation of Ti films. The structure characterization of Ti film was performed by means of X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) and High-Resolution Transmission Electron Microscope (HRTEM). The results showed that the Ti film grew epitaxially with a face centered cubic (fcc) structure even the thickness is up to about 50 nm. High temperature and low sputter power are propitious to the formation of fcc-Ti. An interesting intermediate state of the fcc-hcp transformation was observed. This intermediate structure could help us to understand the mechanism of thickness-dependent fcc-hcp transformation in Ti thin films.