Effect of oxygen content and deposition temperature on the characteristics of thin silver films deposited by magnetron sputtering

Abstract Thin silver films were prepared by direct current magnetron sputtering in a single-ended in-line sputter system at various substrate temperatures and in O 2 contents in sputter gas, and their electrical, optical, structural and morphological properties together with the compositional properties were investigated. When deposited at room temperature, the electrical and optical properties of Ag films deteriorated with addition of O 2 to sputter gas. Deposition of Ag films in O 2 added sputter gas promoted the formation of Ag crystallites with (2 0 0) plane parallel to the substrate surface. The electrical resistivity and optical reflection of Ag films deposited above 100 °C were not affected by the sputtering plasma containing oxygen. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopic analysis showed that Ag films deposited above 100 °C in O 2 added sputter gas did not possess surplus oxygen in the film, and that the oxidation states of these films were almost identical to that of Ag films deposited in pure Ar gas.