TI-NB OXIDE SINTERED BODY SPUTTERING TARGET, TI-NB OXIDE THIN FILM, AND METHOD FOR PRODUCING THE THIN FILM

摘要

Disclosed is a Ti-Nb oxide sintered body sputtering target which is characterized by being composed of titanium (Ti), niobium (Nb) and the balance made up of oxygen and unavoidable impurities, with the atomic ratio of Ti and Nb satisfying the following relation: 0.39 ≤ (Nb/(Ti + Nb)) ≤ 0.79. The Ti-Nb oxide sintered body sputtering target has high refractive index and low extinction coefficient. A Ti-Nb oxide thin film is obtained using the sputtering target, and the Ti-Nb oxide sintered body sputtering target is capable of forming a film at high rate. The thin film has excellent transmittance, while being suppressed in decrease or change of the reflectance. Consequently, the thin film is useful as an interference film of an optical information recording medium, a protective film, or a thin film that is used as a part of a constituent layer of an optical recording medium. In addition, the thin film can be applied to a glass substrate, in other words, the thin film can be used as a heat ray-reflecting film, an anti-reflection film or an interference filter.