Ion bombardment diagnostics in a nitrogen RF magnetron sputtering discharge

Kaltofen, R.; Sebald, T.; Weise, G.

doi:10.1016/s0257-8972(97)00396-4

Cited by 20 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 59 publications

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“…Modulating the discharge voltage with square pulses in this frequency range has benefits over dc operation [3] since it eliminates arc events at the cathode and improves process stability [4,5]. It has benefits over RF [6] operation as it allows processing at much higher deposition rates [7] and avoids the scale-up complexities associated with this technique. It also appears that with the dc pulsing technique the plasma parameters are modified in a beneficial way with respect to the ion-assisted deposition process [8,9] and therefore improve film properties.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Observations of the long-term plasma evolution in a pulsed dc magnetron discharge

Bäcker

Bradley

2005

Plasma Sources Sci. Technol.

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Using a time-resolved Langmuir probe the temporal evolution of the plasma parameters in a pulsed dc magnetron discharge was determined for a number of positions both inside and outside the magnetic trap. The discharge was operated at a pulse frequency of 2 kHz with a 50% duty cycle, a titanium target and at a fixed argon pressure of 0.53 Pa.The electron density, n e , electron temperature, T e , plasma potential, V p and floating potential, V f have typically two-fold characteristic decay and rise times, which increase with distance from the target. In the magnetic trap, the initial n e decay rate is ∼18 µs, lengthening to 120 µs. However, in the plasma bulk, this figure is about 250 µs at all times during the plasma decay. The n e decay rate on the discharge centreline is somewhat slower at about 600 µs. During the transition from duty on to off phases a 'density-wave', initiated at the cathode, is observed to propagate downstream at about 1000 m s −1 (a velocity close to the calculated ion acoustic speed).The results reveal a complex picture in terms of the electron energies. In the off time, the electrons are characterized by a single Maxwellian distribution function and the initial T e decay times are between 6 and 10 µs. However, these lengthen dramatically to values between 600 and 800 µs depending on position to give a final T e value of about 0.2-0.3 eV. In the on time, and outside the magnetic trap, bi-Maxwellian electrons are observed with T eh = 4-6 eV and T ec = 1-2 eV. A simple model, taking into account the effect of the magnetic field on electron collection at the probe, has been used to show that the relative density of hot electrons is as high as 40%. On magnetic field lines that connect with the walls, bi-Maxwellian electrons exist during the whole on period; however, on the centreline their temperatures converge after about 100 µs to form a single distribution with T e ∼ 3 eV.Plasma potential measurements show that the strong axial electric fields in the plasma in the on time totally collapse in the off time. The general structure of the plasma and possible generation mechanisms for the two electron temperature groups is briefly discussed.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Observations of the long-term plasma evolution in a pulsed dc magnetron discharge

Bäcker

Bradley

2005

Plasma Sources Sci. Technol.

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“…Accordingly, Cu exhibits a very low diffusion coefficient in W 2 N. Many different procedures for the preparation of nitride thin films are reported in the literature [17][18][19][20][21][22]. RF magnetron sputtering can be used to deposit this type of coating [23][24][25]. In addition, this technique is of special interest because it is an industrial process applicable to large-area deposition and because high quality films can be achieved even at low substrate temperatures.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Structural and mechanical properties of chromium nitride, molybdenum nitride, and tungsten nitride thin films

Hones¹,

Martin

Regula

et al. 2003

J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys.

163

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Cr-N, Mo-N, and W-N thin films are deposited on silicon by rf reactive magnetron sputtering. The crystallographic phase and residual stress are determined by x-ray diffraction analysis. In each of the three material systems, a hexagonal and a face-centred cubic (fcc) phase are observed. Plasma diagnostics using energy-resolved mass spectroscopy reveal that a significant fraction of the Cr + ions exhibits a high flux and kinetic energy if the nitrogen partial pressure p N 2 is low. These high-energy ions effectively bombard the growing film and a densely packed morphology results. In contrast, in absence of a significant amount of high-energy ions at higher p N 2 , a columnar crystal morphology is observed by scanning electron microscopy. The grain size strongly depends on the presence of a second phase and on the nitrogen content. The hardness, measured by nanoindentation, increases in every material system if the content of the hexagonal phase increases. Under overstoichiometric conditions, the hardness of fcc compounds decreases. The observed hardness differences are explained by morphological changes and by differences in the electronic structure of the compounds.

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“…41 Notably, it is N + that assumes a vital desorption role in nitrogen plasma, preventing the formation of a thin nitrogen carbide film on the surface. 42 As a result, the ion types chosen for the reactions under discussion in this article are O À and N + . energy of 5 eV.…”

Section: Potential Function Of Reaxffmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reaction analysis and the removal mechanism of organic contaminants in plasma cleaning: a molecular dynamics simulation

Bai,

Liu,

Sun

et al. 2023

New J. Chem.

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Ion bombardment diagnostics in a nitrogen RF magnetron sputtering discharge

Cited by 20 publications

References 59 publications

Observations of the long-term plasma evolution in a pulsed dc magnetron discharge

Observations of the long-term plasma evolution in a pulsed dc magnetron discharge

Structural and mechanical properties of chromium nitride, molybdenum nitride, and tungsten nitride thin films

Reaction analysis and the removal mechanism of organic contaminants in plasma cleaning: a molecular dynamics simulation

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