Study of Co-Deposition of Tantalum and Titanium during the Formation of Layered Composite Materials by Magnetron Sputtering

Composite materials "base–transition layer–surface metal layer (Ta/Ti)" were produced using a complex vacuum technology including magnetron sputtering. The structure (by scanning electron microscopy, Auger electron spectroscopy, X-ray diffractometry) and mechanical properties were studied. An almost linear increase in the thickness of both the surface and transition layers was observed with increasing deposition time and power; however, the growth of the surface layer slowed down with increasing power above some critical value. The transition zone with the growth of time stopped growing upon reaching about 300 nm and was formed approximately 2 times slower than the surface one (and about 3.5 times slower with power). It was noted that with equal sputtering–deposition parameters, the layer growth rates for tantalum and titanium were the same. In the sample with a Ta surface layer deposited on titanium, a strongly textured complex structure with alpha and beta Ta was observed, which is slightly related to the initial substrate structure and the underlying layer. However, even at small thicknesses of the surface layer, the co-deposition of tantalum and titanium contributes to the formation of a single tantalum phase, alpha.