Effect of oxygen concentration and system geometry on the current–voltage relations during reactive sputter deposition of titanium dioxide thin films

Sagás, Júlio César; Duarte, Diego Alexandre; Fissmer, S.F.

doi:10.1016/j.vacuum.2011.03.015

Cited by 14 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 17 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…This has been attributed to the reduced working gas density and rarefaction when operating at high power. A unique magnet geometry provides a confining magnetic field that sustains a magnetron sputtering discharge within the cupshaped hollow cathode and high plasma densities are achieved ∼ 10 19 m −3 (Klawuhn et al 2000, Lai 2000 and the voltage needed to sustain the discharge is reduced compared to a planar configuration (Sagás et al 2011). With a proper magnet design, the ions can be extracted toward the substrate.…”

Section: Hollow Cathode Magnetron Sputtering Dischargementioning

confidence: 99%

Physics and technology of magnetron sputtering discharges

Guðmundsson

2020

Plasma Sources Sci. Technol.

354

219

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Magnetron sputtering deposition has become the most widely used technique for deposition of both metallic and compound thin films and is utilized in numerous industrial applications. There has been a continuous development of the magnetron sputtering technology to improve target utilization, increase ionization of the sputtered species, increase deposition rates, and to minimize electrical instabilities such as arcs, as well as to reduce operating cost. The development from the direct current (dc) diode sputter tool to the magnetron sputtering discharge is discussed as well as the various magnetron sputtering discharge configurations. The magnetron sputtering discharge is either operated as a dc or radio frequency discharge, or it is driven by some other periodic waveforms depending on the application. This includes reactive magnetron sputtering which exhibits hysteresis and is often operated with an asymmetric bipolar mid-frequency pulsed waveform. Due to target poisoning the reactive sputter process is inherently unstable and exhibits a strongly non-linear response to variations in operating parameters. Ionized physical vapor deposition was initially achieved by adding a secondary discharge between the cathode target and the substrate and later by applying high power pulses to the cathode target. An overview is given of the operating parameters, the discharge properties and the plasma parameters including particle densities, discharge current composition, electron and ion energy distributions, deposition rate, and ionized flux fraction. The discharge maintenance is discussed including the electron heating processes, the creation and role of secondary electrons and Ohmic heating, and the sputter processes. Furthermore, the role and appearance of instabilities in the discharge operation is discussed.

show abstract

Section: Hollow Cathode Magnetron Sputtering Dischargementioning

confidence: 99%

Physics and technology of magnetron sputtering discharges

Guðmundsson

2020

Plasma Sources Sci. Technol.

354

219

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Initially, the peak target current decreases as more nitrous oxide is introduced. This can be attributed to the decreasing plasma density in front of the target and thus decreasing plasma conductivity [79][80][81], and to reduced secondary electron emission from silicon suboxides [62], limiting the current that can be drawn to the cathode. After a certain threshold the peak current starts increasing, indicating poisoned target surface conditions, because the secondary electron emission yield from completely oxidized silicon surface is higher than that from clean silicon or suboxides.…”

Section: Hipims In Oxygen-containing Atmospheresmentioning

confidence: 99%

Silicon Oxynitride Thin Films Grown by Reactive HiPIMS

Hänninen¹

2015

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Amorphous silicon oxynitride (SiO x N y ) thin films were grown by reactive high power impulse magnetron sputtering from a pure silicon target in Ar/N 2 O plasmas. The elemental composition of the films was shown to depend on the target surface conditions during the film deposition, as well as on the reactive gas flow rate. When the target was sputtered under poisoned surface conditions, the film composition was predominantly silicon oxide, whereas films deposited in the transition regime between poisoned and metallic target surface conditions showed higher nitrogen concentrations, as measured by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and elastic recoil detection analysis (ERDA). The different target surface conditions were identified based on the evolution of the target current waveforms upon variation of the deposition parameters. The average electron temperatures during the peak target current were determined by Langmuir probe measurements, to assist with the explanation of the observed target current behavior and target poisoning characteristics.The chemical composition of the films was shown to range from silicon-rich to effectively stoichiometric silicon oxynitrides, where no Si−Si contributions were found in the XPS Si 2p core level spectra. The film optical properties, the refractive index n and the extinction coefficient k, were shown to depend on the film chemical bonding, with the effectively stoichiometric films displaying optical properties falling between those of SiO 2 and Si 3 N 4 .iii iv Acknowledgments

show abstract

“…Among the variations of magnetron sputtering technique, there is the grid-assisted magnetron sputtering (GAMS), in which a grid is inserted between target and substrate [23]. The grid can be used as an additional electrode, increasing the plasma confinement [24][25][26] and allowing the control of substrate bombardment [27,28]. The grid decreases the effective gettering area, which reduces [29] and even eliminates [23] the hysteresis of process parameters, increasing the deposition stability.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Grid-assisted magnetron sputtering deposition of nitrogen graded TiN thin films

et al. 2020

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Titanium Nitride (TiN) films were obtained using the grid-assisted magnetron sputtering deposition technique on Al substrates in two conditions: under constant and variable nitrogen concentration along the thin solid film thickness. The formation of a film with variable N concentration (herein referred as graded film) was confirmed using energy filtered transmission electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and grazing incidence X-ray diffraction. The TiN thin films microstructures were also analysed using scanning and transmission electron microscopies (SEM and TEM). The viability of synthesizing TiN thin films with variable N concentration is herein proposed as an alternative method for tailoring the properties of such functional coating materials.

show abstract

Effect of oxygen concentration and system geometry on the current–voltage relations during reactive sputter deposition of titanium dioxide thin films

Cited by 14 publications

References 17 publications

Physics and technology of magnetron sputtering discharges

Physics and technology of magnetron sputtering discharges

Silicon Oxynitride Thin Films Grown by Reactive HiPIMS

Grid-assisted magnetron sputtering deposition of nitrogen graded TiN thin films

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About