Temperature and RF Power Effect on the Morphology and Structural Properties of TiC Thin Film Grown by RF Magnetron Sputtering

In this research study, the effect of temperature and radio frequency (RF) power on the surface morphology and structural properties of titanium carbide (TiC) thin film was studied. TiC thin film was deposited on the surface of commercially pure titanium (CpTi) alloys to enhance its surface properties. During the deposition process, the sputtering temperature and RF power were varied while other sputtering parameters were kept constant. Field emission scanning electron microscope was used to analyze the surface profiling of the film, and atomic force microscope was used to study the surface roughness. Raman spectroscopy was used to determine the film composition, and grazing incidence X-ray diffractometer was used to analyze the phase composition. Nanoindentation was carried out to understand the hardness and Young’s modulus properties of the coating. The results reveal the dependency of the thin film properties on the independent process parameters.