Formation of titanium nitride films by reactive magnetron sputtering under low pressure

The processes of reactive magnetron sputtering of titanium in the atmosphere of Ar/N$_2$ working gases under low pressure were studied. It was established that during high vacuum operating mode of magnetron sputtering system and high pumping rates under conditions of stabilization of the magnetron power the discharge voltage univalently depends on the concentration of nitrogen in the chamber, i. e., the characteristic hysteresis usual for reactive magnetron sputtering processes was not observed. At the same time titanium nitride layers with specific resistance less than 70 $\mu\Omega$ cm and microhardness greater than 28 GPa can be obtained with good reproducibility.