Evolution of Chemical, Structural, and Mechanical Properties of Titanium Nitride Films with Different Thicknesses Fabricated Using Pulsed DC Magnetron Sputtering.

Considering the application of titanium nitride (TiN) films as a release layer in producing Wolter-I X-ray telescope mirror shells by the electroformed nickel replication (ENR) technique, this research pays attention to the influence of nanometer-scale thickness variation in the microstructure and physical properties of TiN films deposited by the pulsed direct current (DC) magnetron sputtering method. This topic has received limited attention in the existing literature. TiN films (9.8 nm to 42.9 nm) were fabricated to comprehensively analyze the evolution in microstructure, depth distribution of elements, surface morphology, and intrinsic stress. With increasing thickness, TiN transitioned from amorphous to (200) and (111)-(200) mixed-oriented crystallization, explaining inflection points in the increasing roughness curve. Elements (C, N, O, Si, and Ti) and chemical bond proportions (Ti-N, Ti-N-O, and Ti-O) varied with film depth, and the fitting of film density can be optimized according to these variations. Crystallite size increased with thickness, which led to a reduction in intrinsic stress. It is evident that as film thickness increases, TiN forms a stable crystal structure, thereby reducing intrinsic stress, but resulting in increased roughness. Considering the impact of changes in thin film thickness on physical properties such as roughness, crystallinity, and intrinsic stress, a TiN film with a thickness of approximately 25 nm is deemed suitable for application as a release layer.