Investigation on preparation and diffusion barrier properties of W-Ti thin films

An W-10 wt.%Ti alloy target was prepared by the W-Ti ball-milled powders, and W-Ti thin ?lms were deposited by dc magnetron sputtering on Si substrates. Then Cu/W-Ti/Si structures were prepared after Cu films were deposited on the W-Ti/Si structures. The results show that W-Ti alloy has a single phase structure with fine grain size. The structures of W-Ti thin films evolved from an amorphous film to a dual phase structure with bcc W and hcp Ti, followed by W-Ti solid solution with increasing sputtering powers. W-Ti thin ?lms can effectively block against Cu diffusion and maintain good adhesion strength with Cu ?lms at 600 °C. The failure mechanism of the crystal W-Ti films is related to the grain boundary which provides fast diffusion paths for Cu and Si atoms, while the amorphous W-Ti diffusion barrier layer is directly related to the thermal stress and interface reaction.