Direct-current magnetron sputtering (DCMS) was applied to prepare vanadium (V) films on Si substrate. The influence of substrate temperature (Ts) and target⁻substrate distance (Dt⁻s) on phase structure and surface morphology of V films were investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscope (AFM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The results show that the crystallinity of the V films increases with increasing Ts and decreasing Dt⁻s. The film deposited at Ts = 400 °C and Dt⁻s = 60 mm exhibits the best crystallinity and <111> preferred orientation with a regular tetrahedral surface morphology. Oxidation behavior of the V thin films has also been studied by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS).
Keywords: Vanadium films; magnetron sputtering; microstructure; oxidation behavior; substrate temperature (Ts); target–substrate distance (Dt–s).