Influence of the incident flux angles on the structures and properties of magnetron sputtered MoS₂ films

In this study, by adjusting the angle between the incident flux and the normal direction of the substrate's surface, the MoS₂ film prepared by magnetron sputtering was used as a model system to study the influence of incident flux angles on the structures and properties of deposited films. The morphological and structural evolutions of MoS₂ films deposited at different angles ranging from 0 to 85 degrees were characterized and the corresponding mechanical and tribological properties were evaluated. The results show that a conversion of a continuous film structure to a separate columnar structure with high porosity is found as the incident flux angle increases. Although changing the incident flux angle plays a negligible effect on the crystal preferential orientation of deposited MoS₂ films, the mechanical and tribological properties of these films degrade dramatically when the incident flux angle is larger than 60 degrees.