Growth of Target Race Track Profile during Magnetron Sputtering

Nakano, Takeo; Saitou, Y.; Ueda, Mariko; Itamura, Noriaki; Baba, Shigeru

doi:10.3131/jvsj2.58.261

Cited by 7 publications

(1 citation statement)

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“…Although some research has been done on the analysis of sputtered thin films, the alteration of the target microstructure as a result of the sputtering process has been severely overlooked. It is well known that the destructive plasma–microstructure interactions occurring on the surface of the target can lead to a ‘racetrack’ phenomenon which is clearly visible to the naked eye (Nakano et al ., 2015; Wu et al ., 2019). Furthermore, experimental studies have shown that during plasma‐enhanced chemical vapour deposition, the resulting product morphology is greatly influenced by the plasma parameters (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Quantitative SEM characterisation of ceramic target prior and after magnetron sputtering: a case study of aluminium zinc oxide

Jahangiri

Kalvani

Shapouri

et al. 2020

Journal of Microscopy

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Summary Till now electron microscopy techniques have not been used to evaluate the plasma–target interactions undergone during the magnetron sputtering process. The destructive nature of this interaction severely alters the target microstructure. Utilising quantitative microscopy techniques can shed light on the complex plasma and solid‐state processes involved which can ultimately lead to improved functional thin film deposition. As a representative functional material, aluminium‐doped‐zinc oxide (AZO) is an upcoming alternative to conventional transparent electrode wherein the process optimisation is of great importance. In this paper, we evaluate the pre‐ and post‐sputter field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) data for ceramic AZO target fabricated at three final sintering temperatures (1100°C, 1200°C and 1300°C). In all cases, grain boundaries are merged in addition to a visible reduction in the secondary phases which makes segmentation‐based image analysis challenging. Through surface statistics (i.e. fractal dimension, autocorrelation length, texture aspect ratio and entropy) as a function of magnification we can quantify the electron microscopy image of the microstructure. We show that the plasma–microstructure interaction leads to an increase in autocorrelation length, texture aspect ratio and entropy for the optimum AZO ceramic sputtering target sintered at 1200°C. Furthermore, a maximum reduction in fractal dimension span (as determined by exponential regression) is also observed for 1200°C. In addition to the evaluation of plasma effects on sintering, our approach can provide a window towards understanding the underlying thin film growth mechanisms. We believe that this technique can be applied to the defect characterisation of a wide range of polycrystalline ceramic sputtering targets (e.g. ITO, CZTS, GAZO and so on) with the ultimate goal of improving the magnetron sputtering process and the resulting functional thin film. Lay Description Magnetron sputtering allows scientists to make functional thin films on the order of the nanoscale. In this technique, atoms are plucked from a ‘target’ then placed onto a substrate forming a thin nanometric film: all thanks to magnets, a special power supply and the fourth state of matter (plasma). Understanding what is going on and how to make a ‘good’ thin film is important for making better light emitting diodes, solar cells and light sensors. Scientists use electron microscopy to see what is going on in the microstructure of the sputtered thin films to fine tune the sputtering recipe. Here, for the first time, we have applied electron microscopy to see the surface of the microstructure before and after magnetron sputtering. This will help us understanding the plasma–microstructure interaction allowing us to make more informed decisions when fine‐tuning the sputtering process to get improved thin films. This is a case study of aluminium‐doped zinc oxide (AZO) target that could potentially replace indium tin oxide (ITO), which is widely used as a tra...

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Quantitative SEM characterisation of ceramic target prior and after magnetron sputtering: a case study of aluminium zinc oxide

Jahangiri

Kalvani

Shapouri

et al. 2020

Journal of Microscopy

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Olivine nanoparticles for Fast Atmospheric CO₂ capture at Ambient Conditions

Iozzia,

Goto,

Podestà

et al. 2024

Part & Part Syst Charact

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To mitigate climate change, CO2 sequestration from the atmosphere is being considered as a method to reduce its greenhouse effect and subsequently lower the Earth's surface temperature. A promising approach is the storage of CO2 in minerals, of which Olivine is a promising candidate due to its Earth abundance and high CO2 absorption capacity, which is of the order of 50 wt.%. A bottleneck for Olivine carbonation is the slow reaction rate at ambient conditions, which previously resulted in supplying CO2 at extreme pressures and temperatures to force carbonation. In this study, nanoscale Olivine particles are fabricated, which due to their high surface‐to‐volume ratio, reach a very high carbonation conversion at a time scale of minutes at ambient conditions. The carbonation is measured by X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), which yielded both the presence of carbonates as well as information on the Olivine oxidation state, in agreement with electron diffraction analysis. This work forms the basis for employing Olivine nanoparticles, as fabricated by the relatively simple method of magnetron sputtering, to capture CO2 from the atmosphere at economic conditions.

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Influence of grain size of Cu target on its magnetron sputtering erosion and parameters

Yang

Zhao

Wang

et al. 2021

J Mater Sci: Mater Electron

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Growth of Target Race Track Profile during Magnetron Sputtering

Cited by 7 publications

References 20 publications

Quantitative SEM characterisation of ceramic target prior and after magnetron sputtering: a case study of aluminium zinc oxide

Quantitative SEM characterisation of ceramic target prior and after magnetron sputtering: a case study of aluminium zinc oxide

Olivine nanoparticles for Fast Atmospheric CO₂ capture at Ambient Conditions

Influence of grain size of Cu target on its magnetron sputtering erosion and parameters

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Growth of Target Race Track Profile during Magnetron Sputtering

Cited by 7 publications

References 20 publications

Quantitative SEM characterisation of ceramic target prior and after magnetron sputtering: a case study of aluminium zinc oxide

Quantitative SEM characterisation of ceramic target prior and after magnetron sputtering: a case study of aluminium zinc oxide

Olivine nanoparticles for Fast Atmospheric CO2 capture at Ambient Conditions

Influence of grain size of Cu target on its magnetron sputtering erosion and parameters

Contact Info

Product

Resources

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Olivine nanoparticles for Fast Atmospheric CO₂ capture at Ambient Conditions