AVS 50th International Symposium
    Plasma Science and Technology Friday Sessions
       Session PS-FrM

Paper PS-FrM5
The Influence of Ion Implantation on the Poisoning Mechanism During Reactive Magnetron Sputtering

Friday, November 7, 2003, 9:40 am, Room 315

Session: Plasma-Surface Interactions: Etching
Presenter: D. Depla, University Ghent, Belgium
Authors: D. Depla, University Ghent, Belgium
R. De Gryse, University Ghent, Belgium
Correspondent: Click to Email
During reactive sputter deposition, the interaction of the plasma with the target surface strongly influences the deposition process and the deposited layer characteristics. Besides chemisorption of the active species on the target surface, reactive ions become implanted in the target subsurface region. An analytical model is proposed describing the effect of ion implantation on the poisoning mechanism during reactive magnetron sputtering. We assume that the target can be described by a mixture of the original target material and the compound material formed by reactive ion implantation. The target is subdivided into three regions :i) the surface region, ii) the subsurface region and iii) the bulk region. The sputter removal of the compound material from the target surface region is balanced by the compound formation by reactive ion implantation in the subsurface and bulk region. The steady-state solution shows a small but abrupt change of the deposition rate. The abrupt change in deposition rate is accompanied by a much larger abrupt change of the target condition in the subsurface region. Moreover, a narrow hysteresis region is found. Several experimental results can be easily explained from this analytical model. As this analytical approach neglects several aspects of the sputtering process, e.g. knock-on effects, recoil mixing, range shortening, we have also simulated this process using TRIDYN. More specific, the influence of reactive ion implantation during the reactive sputtering of Al in Ar/O2 is simulated.@footnote 1@ The results of these simulations confirm not only the basic ideas described by the analytical model, but a quite good agreement between both models is found. @FootnoteText@ @footnote 1@Z.Y. Chen, A. Bogaerts, D. Depla, I. Ignatova, Nucl. Instr. And Meth. B, accepted for publication.