Thin Film Synthesis by Energetic Condensation

Abstract

Abstract:The use of energetic particles (ions and atoms) has become increasingly important in physical vapor deposition techniques. These deposition processes can be divide in two main classes: Ion beam assisted deposition and energetic condensation (or deposition).This article focusses on the latter, i.e. processes in which the actual depositing species have energies that far exceed ordinary thermal energies, namely energies greater than 20 eV. The phenomenology of the effect of these high energy particles on the growth of thin films is first presented in general and then specific examples of film deposition are presented. The examples drawn here are of films that have been prepared by Metal Plasma Immersion Implantation and Deposition. The observed microstructures and functional properties of these films are discussed in terms of processing conditions.

A structure zone diagram including plasma-based deposition and ion etching

“…Focusing on film growth conditions dominated by very large ion fluxes, also known as 'energetic deposition' or 'energetic condensation' from the plasma phase [7,[14][15][16], such as filtered cathodic arc deposition [7,17,18], HIPIMS [19][20][21][22], or sustained self-sputtering [23][24][25][26], and other forms of ionized physical vapor deposition [27,28], researchers have called for a more comprehensive SZD that includes the effects of ions on film growth. In response, an extended SZD is presented here that generalizes the illustration by Thornton; it is also made clear that any such presentation can only serve for rough orientation and that each combination of substrate, film material, and deposition conditions represent a unique system that is not adequately described by a SZD.…”

High quality ZnO:Al transparent conducting oxide films synthesized by pulsed filtered cathodic arc deposition

“…[20,21]. Additionally, the dense zinc arc plasma also causes excitation and ionization of oxygen, and therefore the deposition process is "energetic" [22][23][24] with contributions of both kinetic and potential energy to the film growth process [16,25]. Previous work using DC filtered arcs focused on room temperature or near-room-temperature deposition [10,26,27], whereas we will show that elevated temperature growth is very beneficial for the electrical and optical properties.…”

Engineering Properties of Superhard Films with Ion Energy and Post-Deposition Processing

“…As mentioned in the Introduction, the properties of the deposited film are strongly affected by the energy of the depositing particles (ions or atoms) [3]. The plasma stream that is directed to the substrate during the deposition process mainly consists of a mixture of ions and electrons; neutrals are practically absent.…”

“…In addition to the conventional process parameters such as pressure, composition of the gas phase and substrate temperature, there has been increasing interest in controlling the energy of the depositing species [3].…”

“…The term DLC in this article will be used to describe non-hydrogenated amorphous carbon with a significantly high content of tetragonal bonding. Such a high content of sp 3 bonding can only be achieved with processes that make use of precursors with hyperthermal energies. In addition to affecting the chemistry, such as in the case of DLC, energetic ions can also promote control of grain size, texture and stress in films.…”