Effects of deposition time and RF power on the film characteristics of magnetron sputtered silicon carbide thin films

In this work, deposition time and RF power was shown to significantly influence the microstructure and properties of silicon carbide (SiC) thin films deposited on aluminum substrates by radio-frequency (RF) magnetron sputtering. Three different deposition times of 40, 60 and 75 min and at RF powers of 90 and 120 W were considered. The surface morphology of the thin films was investigated using an optical profilometer and a scanning electron microscope (SEM). The Vickers hardness test was also used to determine the hardness of the films. Grain size measurements revealed that increasing the deposition time and RF power results in larger SiC grains. Moreover, the surface roughness also increased with deposition time, however a decrease in roughness was observed when the RF power was increased from 90 to 120 W. The hardness of the SiC thin films generally increased with both deposition time and RF power, with the power having a more pronounced effect on the film hardness.