Magnetron sputtering (PVD) technology is one of the key technologies for preparing thin film materials. High-purity titanium sputtering target materials are key consumables in the magnetron sputtering process and have broad market application prospects. As a high-value-added coating material, titanium target materials have strict requirements in terms of chemical purity, microstructure, and performance, and they are highly technical and difficult to process.
Magnetron sputtering titanium target materials are mainly used in the electronic and information industries, such as integrated circuits, flat panel displays, and decorative coating fields in the home decoration and automotive industries, such as glass decorative coating and wheel hub decorative coating, as shown in Figure 1. The requirements for titanium target materials in different industries also vary greatly, mainly including purity, microstructure, welding performance, and dimensional accuracy. The purity of titanium target materials for integrated circuits is mainly above 99.995%, and currently, they mainly rely on imports. In the market for titanium target materials used in flat panel displays, the liquid crystal display (LCD) market is the largest, accounting for more than 90%. LCD is considered the most promising flat panel display device at present. Its emergence has greatly expanded the application range of displays, from notebook computer displays, desktop computer monitors, high-definition LCD TVs to mobile communications. Various new LCD products are impacting people's living habits and driving the rapid development of the world's information industry.
The purity of titanium target materials has a significant impact on the performance of sputtered films. The higher the purity, the fewer impurity element particles in the sputtered titanium film, resulting in better film performance, including better corrosion resistance and electrical and optical properties. Generally, titanium target materials have a polycrystalline structure, with grain sizes ranging from micrometers to millimeters. Fine-grained target materials have a faster sputtering rate than coarse-grained ones. For targets with similar grain sizes on the sputtering surface, the thickness distribution of the sputtered deposited film is also more uniform.
