A comparative study of nanocrystalline Cu film deposited using anodic vacuum arc and dc magnetron sputtering

A comparative study of structural, electrical and thermoelectric properties of nanocrystalline copper thin films deposited using anodic vacuum arc plasma deposition technique and dc-magnetron sputtering is presented. The crystallographic texture and structural evolution of these films are investigated as a function of thickness within a range of 30 to 230 nm using XRD and SEM. AVA deposited Cu films possess smaller grains with a lesser degree of crystallinity than dc-sputtered ones. Electrical resistivity, temperature coefficient of resistance and thermoelectric power of both as-deposited and annealed Cu films of AVA and dc-magnetron sputtering is measured and their dependence on the film thickness is investigated. AVA deposited Cu films having thickness less than 100 nm show much higher resistivity than dc-sputtered ones. AVA deposited Cu films possess lower temperature coefficient of resistance values than dc-sputtered ones. The observed thickness dependence of thermoelectric power is larger in AVA deposited Cu films than in dc-sputtered ones. These electrical measurements reveal that AVA deposited Cu films possess more vacancies than dc-sputtered ones. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.