Energy Flux to a Substrate in ICP Assisted Magnetron Sputtering

Abstract

To understand the deposition mechanism during the inductively coupled plasma (ICP) assisted sputter-deposition of transparent conductive Al-doped ZnO (AZO) films, energy flux to a substrate during the deposition was investigated. The total energy flux to a substrate (J) was measured by two types of thermal probes, and the contribution due to charged species was evaluated by the Langmuir probe measurements of plasma parameters. As a result, it was found that i) J was about 3000 Wm-2 for the optimized deposition condition, and ii) J was predominantly contributed by plasma charged species.