The main objective of this work is the preparation of decorative zirconium oxynitride, Zr O x N
y⁠, thin films by dc reactive magnetron sputtering. Film properties were analyzed as a
function of the reactive gas flow and were correlated with the observed structural changes.
Measurements showed a systematic decrease in the deposition rate with the increase of the
reactive gas flow and revealed three distinct modes:(i) a metallic mode,(ii) a transition mode
(subdivided into three zones), and (iii) an oxide mode. The measurements of target potential …