Influence on Microstructure and Hydrogen Adsorption Characterization of Zr-Co-RE Films Using Argon and Krypton as Magnetron Sputtering Gas

To obtain ZrCoRE （RE is rare earth elements La and Ce） getter films with good adsorption performance, DC magnetron sputtering was used to prepare ZrCoRE films with different structures in argon and krypton gas by changing the deposition pressure. The effects of sputtering gas on the microstructure of the films were analyzed by field emission scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction. The hydrogen absorption properties of the films deposited in argon and krypton were tested by dynamic constant pressure method. The effect of sputtering gas and film structure on hydrogen absorption performance was analyzed. The results show that the films deposited in argon gas were relatively dense, while films deposited in krypton sputtering gas had more clusters and cracks in the microstructure. The films had an obvious columnar structure, and a lot of interfaces and gaps are distributed among the columnar structures, providing more paths for gas diffusion. Argon and krypton sputtering gas pressure increases, the film contains more cracks and gap structure, continuous columnar structure growth more obvious, and cracks deeper and wider. The structure had larger specific surface area, which is conducive to improving the hydrogen absorption performance of the films.