scholarly journals Effect of Voltage Pulse Width and Synchronized Substrate Bias in High-Power Impulse Magnetron Sputtering of Zirconium Films

Coatings ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 7
Author(s):  
Chin-Chiuan Kuo ◽  
Chun-Hui Lin ◽  
Jing-Tang Chang ◽  
Yu-Tse Lin

The Zr film microstructure is highly influenced by the energy of the plasma species during the deposition process. The influences of the discharge pulse width, which is the key factor affecting ionization of sputtered species in the high-power impulse magnetron sputtering (HiPIMS) process, on the obtained microstructure of films is investigated in this research. The films deposited at different argon pressure and substrate biasing are compared. With keeping the same average HiPIMS power and duty cycle, the film growth rate of the Zr film decreases with increasing argon pressure and enhancing substrate biasing. In addition, the film growth rate decreases with the elongating HiPIMS pulse width. For the deposition at 1.2 Pa argon, extending the pulse width not only intensifies the ion flux toward the substrate but also increases the fraction of highly charged ions, which alter the microstructure of films from individual hexagonal prism columns into a tightly connected irregular column. Increasing film density leads to higher hardness. Sufficient synchronized negative substrate biasing and longer pulse width, which supports higher mobility of adatoms, causes the preferred orientation of hexagonal α-phase Zr films from (0 0 0 2) to (1 0 1¯ 1). Unlike the deposition at 1.2 Pa, highly charged ions are also found during the short HiPIMS pulse width at 0.8 Pa argon.

Coatings ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (8) ◽  
pp. 736
Author(s):  
Gil-Su Jang ◽  
Du-Yun Kim ◽  
Nong-Moon Hwang

The possibility that charged nanoparticles (CNPs) are generated in the gas phase during direct current (DC) magnetron sputtering of Ag is studied. Sputtered Ag particles could be captured on an ultrathin amorphous carbon membrane for transmission electron microscopy (TEM) observation. It is confirmed that the average particle size and the total area of deposition under the condition of the positive bias applied to the substrate are bigger than those under the condition of the negative bias applied to the substrate. The results indicate that some of the sputtered Ag particles are negatively charged. To evaluate the contribution of negatively-charged particles to the film growth, Ag thin films were deposited for 30 min on the Si substrate with the substrate biases of −300, 0 and +300 V and analyzed by field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and four-point probe. When +300 V was applied to the substrate, the film growth rate was highest with the film thickness of 85.0 nm, the crystallinity was best with the smallest full width at half maximum (FWHM) value of 0.44 and the resistivity was smallest with 3.67 μΩ·cm. In contrast, when −300 V was applied to the substrate, the film growth rate was lowest with the film thickness of 68.9 nm, the crystallinity was worst with the largest FWHM value of 0.53 and the resistivity was largest with 8.87 μΩ·cm. This result indicates that the charge plays an important role in film growth and can be a new process parameter in sputtering.


Nanomaterials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 978
Author(s):  
Ming-Jie Zhao ◽  
Zhi-Xuan Zhang ◽  
Chia-Hsun Hsu ◽  
Xiao-Ying Zhang ◽  
Wan-Yu Wu ◽  
...  

Indium oxide (In2O3) film has excellent optical and electrical properties, which makes it useful for a multitude of applications. The preparation of In2O3 film via atomic layer deposition (ALD) method remains an issue as most of the available In-precursors are inactive and thermally unstable. In this work, In2O3 film was prepared by ALD using a remote O2 plasma as oxidant, which provides highly reactive oxygen radicals, and hence significantly enhancing the film growth. The substrate temperature that determines the adsorption state on the substrate and reaction energy of the precursor was investigated. At low substrate temperature (100–150 °C), the ratio of chemically adsorbed precursors is low, leading to a low growth rate and amorphous structure of the films. An amorphous-to-crystalline transition was observed at 150–200 °C. An ALD window with self-limiting reaction and a reasonable film growth rate was observed in the intermediate temperature range of 225–275 °C. At high substrate temperature (300–350 °C), the film growth rate further increases due to the decomposition of the precursors. The resulting film exhibits a rough surface which consists of coarse grains and obvious grain boundaries. The growth mode and properties of the In2O3 films prepared by plasma-enhanced ALD can be efficiently tuned by varying the substrate temperature.


2008 ◽  
Vol 600-603 ◽  
pp. 227-230 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yoshimine Kato ◽  
Kazuo Sakumoto

SiC growth on as-received and striated Si(001) substrates was studied. SiC films were grown by pulsed-jet chemical vapor deposition using monomethylsilane as a gas source at 780°C. Two kinds of Si surfaces were prepared. One was an as-received Si(001) surface and the other was an striated (scratched) Si(001) surface. It was found that nucleation rate of SiC is quite different between these two kinds of surfaces. The film growth rate was very low for the as-received Si(001) surface compared with the striated surface, and after 8 hours of growth hardly any film was grown and only square-shaped islands were observed. On the other hand, for the undulant substrate about 100nm thick 3C-SiC film was grown after 8 hours of deposition. This film growth rate difference appears to be due to the difference in density of nucleation sites. For the as-received Si(001) surface, nucleation site density appears to be quite small due to the atomically flat surface. On the other hand, for the undulant surface, nucleation site density was large enough for the film to grow faster.


2014 ◽  
Vol 633 ◽  
pp. 398-401
Author(s):  
Xiang Min Xu ◽  
Hao Zhang ◽  
Yi Bin Jin ◽  
Hao Chen Zhao ◽  
Shu Wang Duo

CrNx coatings were deposited by high power pulse magnetron sputtering in a closed field unbalanced system. The influence of pulse width on microstructure and mechanical properties of CrNx coatings was examined. Morphologies different from those fabricated by traditional magnetron sputtering were obtained, phase structures were also changed in the process. The coatings hardness were always improved in the increasing pulse length, while the best adhension of CrNx coatings about 25N was get when pulse length was 60us.


2005 ◽  
Vol 276 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 431-438 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ik-Tae Im ◽  
Masakazu Sugiyama ◽  
Yukihiro Shimogaki ◽  
Yoshiyaki Nakano

2013 ◽  
Vol 2 (10) ◽  
pp. P91-P93 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. R. Kim ◽  
H. Lim ◽  
S. Park ◽  
Y. J. Choi ◽  
S. Suh ◽  
...  

1990 ◽  
Vol 56 (524) ◽  
pp. 887-891
Author(s):  
Kenichi NANBU ◽  
Yasuo WATANABE ◽  
Saburo IGARASHI

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