Effect of pulsed bias on TiO2 thin films prepared on silicon by arc ion plating and simulation of pulsed plasma sheath dynamics

Dielectric TiO2 thin films were fabricated on p-(100) Si substrates by arc ion plating. A pulsed substrate bias ranging from 0 V to − 900 V was applied to investigate the effect of pulsed bias on phase structure and growth of the films. Phase, microstructure, and growth morphology of TiO2 films prepared at different bias voltages were evaluated with grazing incident x-ray diffraction and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The results show that pulsed bias exerts an evident influence on phase structure and growth morphology. High substrate bias facilitates the formation of rutile phase, a (220) preferred orientation is observed in TiO2 films obtained at − 900 V. AFM images show that pulsed substrate bias exerts a strong influence on the growth of TiO2 films. With increasing bias voltage, the film is initially composed of tiny surface islands separated by shallow boundaries, then of large and spiky surface islands isolated by deep boundaries. Correspondingly, surface roughness increases from 1.1 nm at 0 V to 3.8 nm at − 900 V. To explain the phenomena observed in this study, pulsed plasma sheath model was used to simulate the ion sheath dynamics. By analyzing experimental and simulated results, it can be concluded that film growth and property relate close to ion density and energy in the sheath, which is dominantly governed by negative substrate bias.