Study on the influence of nitrogen on titanium nitride in a dc post magnetron sputtering plasma system

Abstract

The characteristics of direct current (dc) glow discharge plasma have been studied in a post magnetron device with an argon and nitrogen gas mixture. The introduction of nitrogen modifies the discharge leading to modifications of plasma parameters, transport mechanism and the cathode sheath. The electron energy distribution function, density and temperature profile are measured to characterize the discharge. Measured plasma potential profiles show the modification of the structure of the cathode sheath and confinement space variation. Optical emission spectroscopy is used to identify prominent transitions of the different species in the discharge. The discharge mode in argon undergoes a transition from metallic mode to reactive mode when nitrogen concentration exceeds argon.

Effect of hydrogen ratio on plasma parameters of N2-H2 gas mixture glow discharge

“…The same behavior of axial distribution of T e in argon dc glow discharge was noticed [10]. A confirmation of these results was obtained in the case of increasing the nitrogen ratio in glow discharge of nitrogen and argon gas mixture [6].…”

“…Also the ionization potential of hydrogen gas (13.6 eV) is lower than that of nitrogen gas (14.6 eV), this difference appears in the increasing of T e by increasing of H 2 ratio. A confirmation of these results was obtained in the case of increasing the oxy gen ratio in glow discharge of oxygen and argon gas mixture [4,6].…”

“…It has been observed that ion and electron den sities decrease with increasing the hydrogen concen tration, since the ionization cross section of hydrogen is less than that of nitrogen. In the case of pure nitro gen plasma, the energetic secondary electrons coming out of the cathode fall region relax energetically in the negative glow region of the discharge mainly by colli sion with N 2 neutrals [6]. As H 2 has much a lower ion ization cross section, which is about 55% as compared with that of N 2 , then this will reduce the energy loss during ionizing collisions with H 2 , increase the popu lation of energetic electrons, and reduce the densities due to the lower probability of ionization by increasing H 2 ratio [4,6].…”

“…It has been observed that the EEDF follows Max wellian behavior for pure argon plasma, and that the electron temperature increases with increasing nitro gen concentration in case of N 2 -Ar plasma glow dis charge, since the ionization cross section of nitrogen is less than that of argon [6]. In the cathode fall and neg ative glow regions of the Ar-He glow discharge, two groups of electrons were detected and were attributed to a "runaway" process in the weakly ionized gas in which the conditions for electron acceleration without 1 The article is published in the original.…”

Direct Current Magnetron Glow Discharge Plasma Characteristics Study for Controlled Deposition of Titanium Nitride Thin Film

“…The externally applied magnetic field traps the energetic electrons and effectively increases the ionization efficiency resulting in high deposition rate at a relatively low pressure [5,6], thereby making it a favourable process for many manufacturing applications. Generally, films are grown under low pressure to reduce collision events for higher surface mobility to ensure better quality of the deposited films [7][8][9]. In many plasma processing applications, magnetron reactive sputtering is actively used where metal oxides or metal nitride films are required for surface treatment.…”