Influence of controlled deposition rate on mechanical properties of sputtered Ti thin films for MEMS application

This work investigates the influence of titanium thin films on the mechanical properties of AA 2024 substrates. The Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) measurements confirm that the surface morphology of Ti thin film depends on controlled deposition rate and the energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) result reveals the uniform dispersion of Ti coating over the sample. Increase in film thickness on the material surface is connected with improved hardness, superior adhesion and minimum surface roughness which makes the coated material more prominent for MEMS application. It is also found that the XRD patterns of the Ti thin films are characterized by hexagonal close packed (HCP) structure with (1 1 1) as the preferred crystallographic orientation for the film of a thickness of 154 μm coated on the substrate at temperature of 673 K.