The influence of argon pressure on the structure of sputtered molybdenum: From porous amorphous to a new type of highly textured film

Abstract

The density of the low-rate (<0.1 nm/s) sputtered molybdenum films can be controlled between 48% and 96% of the bulk material by the variation of argon pressure from 4.7 to 0.45 Pa. Small angle x-ray scattering shows the existence of columnar voids with a typical size of 10 nm, especially in the low-density films, whereas a high concentration of primary voids with a diameter of 1 nm is found independent of the density. The conductivity of the films decreases monotonically with decreasing density from 2.4×104 to 2.1×102 (Ω cm)−1, with a strong decay below a density of 55%. Films of about 30 nm thickness are amorphous or nanocrystalline with a (110) texture for high- and low-pressure sputter deposition, respectively. Upon increasing the film thickness up to 3 μm, the low-density films become nanocrystalline, too, and develop the common (110) fiber texture. In contrast, increasing the thickness of the high-density films results in a turnover of texture from a (110) type to a (211) mosaiclike texture.

Characteristics of molybdenum bilayer back contacts for Cu(In,Ga)Se2 solar cells on Ti foils

“…At 4.00 Pa, it is below 60% of the bulk Mo value. Thus, a higher deposition pressure leads to a less dense film, which is in accordance with previous studies [6,8]. On SLG, curvature-based measurements are compared to XRD-based measurements.…”

“…In this context, the development of optimized and functionalized Mo back contact layers is of growing importance. Indeed, Mo layers deposited by the sputtering technique can be tuned through modification of the deposition parameters [6][7][8] or the sputtering target content [9,10]. In addition, Mo multilayer structures can be obtained using successive sputtering conditions, resulting in a multifunctional back contact.…”

Zirconium-Doped Tantalum Oxide Gate Dielectric Films Integrated with Molybdenum, Molybdenum Nitride, and Tungsten Nitride Gate Electrodes

“…2a, the Mo film shows a body-centered cubic ͑bcc͒ structure with a ͑110͒ orientation, which is consistent with the literature. 15,28,33 This ͑110͒ orientation has a columnar structure perpendicular to the film surface. 28 Mo with the columnar structure has a p-type gate work function of ϳ5 eV, 12,15,34 which is shown in a later section.…”

Electronic transport by ultrathin molybdenum layers buried in amorphous silicon

“…10,13 The apparatus consists of three separated deposition chambersone for the deposition of molybdenum by dc-magnetron sputtering and two for the deposition of silicon by either dc-magnetron sputtering ͑MSP͒ or plasma-enhanced chemical vapor ͑PCVD͒ deposition. Each deposition chamber is separated from the transfer chamber ͑with a base vacuum below 10 Ϫ6 mbar͒ by a vacuum valve, which permits sample transfer between the chambers without breaking the plasma discharges in the chambers.…”

“…The study includes investigations of highly porous Mo with a density equal to about 62% of the bulk theoretical value. 10 Note that, in contrast with porous films of other metals, 11 this porous structure is stable even on annealing at 800 K. 13 For the low-density films, the Si overlayer protects the porous Mo from any interaction with atmospheric gases. The present work is accompanied by a detailed structural investigation mainly by x-ray methods and electron microscopy.…”