| AVS 66th International Symposium & Exhibition | |
| Thin Films Division | Monday Sessions |
| Session TF+SE-MoA |
| Session: | HiPIMS and Reactive HiPIMS for Novel Thin Films |
| Presenter: | George Major, Brigham Young University |
| Authors: | G. Major, Brigham Young University M.R. Linford, Brigham Young University |
| Correspondent: | Click to Email |
Niobium (Nb) is a technology-critical element with superconductive properties, and applications in electronics, superconductors, and particle accelerators. Thin film niobium is commonly deposited by magnetron sputtering. Properties of Nb thin films must be precisely tuned for applications, e.g., Josephson Junctions, as surface roughness, crystallite size, and apparent elastic modulus can affect superconducting film properties. To create a Josephson Junction, a thin film of Al (4 to 10 nm) is deposited on top of a smooth Nb film (ca. 100 nm). The functionality of this Al film is inversely related to its thickness. The smoother the film onto which the Al is deposited, the thinner it can be. High-power impulse magnetron sputtering (HIPIMS) is an emerging method for physically depositing thin films. HIPIMS produces a high degree of ionization of sputtered material and a high rate of molecular gas dissociation, which results in high density films. Various metals, including Ti and Ta, have been successfully deposited by HIPIMS, showing dense, smooth microstructures free of large-scale defects. Here, Nb thin films are deposited using magnetron sputtering and HIPIMS. These films are characterized by AFM, TEM, XPS, and SEM. Ellipsometry is used to study their optical properties and to determine their optical constants. HIPIMS should result in lower surface roughness compared to magnetron sputtering. The resulting films will lead to improved superconductive devices.