Experimental determination and simulation of the angular distribution of the metal flux during magnetron sputter deposition

Abstract

To understand the film growth during magnetron sputter deposition a detailed knowledge of the flux of sputtered species from the target towards the substrate is vital. One important parameter is the angular distribution of the impinging neutral target atoms on the substrate, since it is responsible for e.g. self shadowing effects. The determination of the angular distribution of the metal flux at an arbitrary point in the deposition chamber is achieved by a pinhole-camera, where the information of the angular distribution is converted into a thickness profile. This paper describes the construction of such a pinhole-camera which is capable of differential pumping, the determination of the angular distribution for a wide variety of target materials, and which can easily be inserted into a deposition chamber. The angular distributions of different materials (Cu; W; Al; Ti; Mg) at different parameters (pressure, lateral position, and vertical position) are experimentally determined and compared to simulations obtained from a newly developed Monte Carlo code. It was also investigated, if Confidential: not for distribution.

Growth of SiO2 and TiO2 thin films deposited by reactive magnetron sputtering and PECVD by the incorporation of non‐directional deposition fluxes

“…In PECVD, it can be assumed that neutral particles in the gas/plasma phase follow the Maxwell velocity distribution function, so they reach the substrate holder with similar energy (thermal energy) and with isotropy (we neglect ions due to the weak plasma/surface interaction caused by the grounded grid and the long distance between the plasma and the substrate in the downstream configuration). Conversely, by studying the transport of Ti and Si atoms from the cathode towards the film in the i‐MS configuration by means of the software SIMTRA 35, 36 we conclude that the sputtered atoms reach the film surface once they are thermalized with the neutral particles of the gas/plasma 37: in Fig. 4a and b, we show the angular distribution functions calculated by SIMTRA and the isotropic distribution functions, $P(\theta )$ and $C(\varphi )$ , introduced in Eq.…”

On the Deposition Rates of Magnetron Sputtered Thin Films at Oblique Angles

“…Remarkably, the disagreement between these results in the literature and our data, depicted in Figure , indicates the low reliability of the K–S formula in general conditions. By employing the software SIMTRA, a Monte Carlo model that describes the transport of sputtered particles from the target toward the substrate surface, it appears that the chimney might be responsible for this difference, in particular, the removal of sputtered particles from the plasma gas by deposition on its surface. Indeed, SIMTRA assumes that, once a sputtered particle reaches a surface within the reactor, it is removed from the discharge with a negligible backscattering or re‐sputtering probability.…”

Influence of deposition conditions and substrate morphology on the electrical properties of sputtered ZnO:Al grown on texture-etched glass

“…Lower deposition pressures induce less particle collisions in the plasma. Consequently, the particle flux for low deposition pressures is more direct in comparison to higher deposition pressures with rather diffuse particle flux [37,38]. Thus, for lower deposition pressures we expect a more parallel orientation of the ZnO:Al columns rather than perpendicular growth on the local substrate facets.…”