A study on the NiCrMnZr thin film resistors prepared using the magnetron sputtering technique

We prepared two types of thin film, a NiCrMn resistive thin film was prepared using direct current and radio frequency magnetron co-sputtering from Ni0.6Cr0.4 casting alloy and manganese targets. A NiCrMnZr resistive thin film was prepared based on the optimum NiCrMn film composition, which was made using direct current and radio frequency magnetron co-sputtering from NiCrMn casting alloy and zirconium targets. The electrical properties and microstructures of the resistive films under different annealing temperatures were investigated. The results indicated that the NiCr film resistivity can be enhanced by adding manganese. When the annealing temperature was set to 300 °C, the NiCrMn films exhibited a resistivity ~400 μΩ-cm with the smallest temperature coefficient of resistance of −6.6 ppm/°C. For NiCrMnZr films, there are some Ni7Zr2 Nano crystalline phases observed when the annealing temperature was set to 400 °C. However, the NiCrMnZr film annealed at 300 °C still has an amorphous structure by transmission electron microscopy analysis. NiCrMn films with 16.7 at.% Zr exhibited the smallest temperature coefficient of resistance (+53 ppm/°C) with the resistivity ∼510 μΩ-cm after annealing at 300 °C in air.