Critical angles in DC magnetron glad thin films

• Glancing angle deposition of metallic films by sputtering.
• Comparison of heavy and light material.
• Evidence of different critical angles for the same property vs. the material.

The objective of this study is to examine the sudden drop in properties of aluminum, titanium and chromium thin films prepared by the glancing angle deposition method. The thin films were deposited by DC magnetron sputtering under identical deposition conditions. A substrate-holder with seven different orientations with respect to the target normal was used. The thickness and the column tilt angles (β) of the thin films were determined by scanning electron microscopy. The residual stress of the thin films was evaluated using the wafer curvature technique and calculated by the Stoney's formula. The thickness variation and column tilt angle versus the orientation of the substrate indicated that the critical point is around 60° for all metallic materials and a critical angle of 60° is also found for the residual stress. Simulations of the particles transport are compared to the experimental data and moderate the critical angles analyses.