Optical diagnostics of the magnetron sputtering process of copper in an argon–oxygen atmosphere

Abstract

In this paper, a diagnostic tool for magnetron sputtering deposition of copper oxides is presented. The copper oxide thin films were deposited in DC-MF mode for various argon/oxygen mixtures, including deposition in a pure oxygen atmosphere (fully reactive mode). The copper oxides were deposited on quartz glass substrates and carbon foils. The deposition process was monitored using optical emission spectroscopy. The films were further analysed by X-ray diffraction (XRD), optical measurements, and Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy (RBS). The obtained results confirmed that optical emission spectroscopy (OES) can be used as a diagnostic tool for magnetron sputtering technology that enables control of the sputtering mode, and therefore, the deposition of pure metallic (Cu) and various oxide (Cu2O, CuO) films can be performed. The results show that by increasing oxygen content in the argon/oxygen mixture, the sputtering rate is reduced; however, in the oxygen, at 40–100% range, it is stabilised at 12 nm/min.

Developing GLAD Parameters to Control the Deposition of Nanostructured Thin Film

“…Unstable conditions during the GLAD process could result in an uneven buildup of material as the tallest columns grew at the expense of the smaller elements [41]. Previously, we tested the impact of various argon-oxygen mixtures on copper/copper oxide growth [42], the impact of GLAD sputtering parameters on the crystal structure, morphology, and gas-sensing properties of the tungsten trioxide films [12], the influence of the GLAD nuclei process to ultra-thin copper oxide films [3], as well as to the gas-sensing properties of the copper oxide-tin oxide heterostructures [43]. Herein, a brief report on the deposition system and further improvements was proposed and the given sensing results are shown to confirm the previously obtained results.…”

1 MeV Au+ ion modification of Fe3O4-based epitaxial films

“…The RBS simulated spectrum from the SIMNRA program provides the (Nt) product (denoted as d SIMNRA ), which is in the unit of (10 15 atoms cm −2 ). The simulated areal density can then be converted into the layer thickness value d (in nm) as follows [24]:…”

The Heterostructures of CuO and SnOx for NO2 Detection

“…The copper oxide thin films were deposited in the same DC MF (direct current medium frequency) mode as tin oxide (Cu target purity 4 N—99.99%), and under the same pressure and gas-mixture condition (purity of gases 5 N—99.999%), which are different in comparison with those previously reported [ 37 , 46 ]. However, thanks to the previous experiments with Emission Optical Spectroscopy [ 47 ], the reactive atmosphere can be controlled to provide stable and repeatable conditions.…”