Reactive sputtering of titanium target in the presence of Ar/CH4 gas mixture has been investigated. With the addition of methane gas to above 1.5% of the process gas a transition from the metallic sputtering mode to the poison mode was observed as indicated by the change in cathode current. As the methane gas flow concentration increased up to 10%, the target was gradually poisoned. The hysteresis in the cathode current could be plotted by first increasing and then subsequently decreasing the methane concentration. X-ray diffraction and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analyses of the deposited films confirmed the formation of carbide phases and the transition of the process from the metallic to compound sputtering mode as the methane concentration in the sputtering gas is increased. The paper discusses a sputtering model that gives a rational explanation of the target poisoning phenomenon and shows an agreement between the experimental observations and calculated results. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.