Highly adhesive TiN thin films prepared on glass by the electron shower method

A TiN film to reflect infrared rays was deposited by the electron shower (ES) method on glass; it exhibited higher adhesion than those prepared by are ion plating (AIP) and magnetron sputtering (MS). Electron spectroscopy for chemical analysis (ESCA) revealed that Si3N4 was formed at the interface of the ES sample. However, titanium oxides, such as TiO2, were formed at the interface in AIP and MS methods. These oxides reduced the SiO2 of the glass substrate and degraded the glass. Therefore peeling occurred in the glass. This reduction did not occur in the ES sample. The reflection of infrared rays by the AIP sample (thickness, 200 nm) was the highest (90%) of the three samples, but the adhesion was the lowest. Therefore a TiN layer of 50 nm was deposited by ES followed by a 150 nm layer deposited by AIP to yield good adhesion and a highly reflective film.