Thickness uniformity and surface morphology of Fe, Ti, and Hf films produced by filtered pulsed cathodic arc deposition

The thickness of films produced by filtered pulsed cathodic arc deposition can typically be varied from tens of nanometers to micrometers. Because of plasma confinement in the curved duct that is frequently used to eliminate deleterious macro-particles and divergent diffusion of the plasma from the exit, the characteristics of the films are affected. In this work, the thickness uniformity across the film is investigated and the variations in the morphologies of Fe, Ti, and Hf films with different thicknesses are studied. The root-mean-square (RMS) roughness values of the Fe and Ti films with a thickness of around 350 nm are similar whereas much smoother Hf films can be obtained, suggesting that atomic diffusion plays an important role in addition to the deposition parameters.