AVS 53rd International Symposium
    Plasma Science and Technology Thursday Sessions
       Session PS-ThP

Paper PS-ThP15
Measurements of Cu Densities at the Ground and Metastable States in a Magnetron Sputtering Plasma Source with a Cu Target

Thursday, November 16, 2006, 5:30 pm, Room 3rd Floor Lobby

Session: High Pressure Discharges and Novel Diagnostics & Sources Poster Session
Presenter: K. Sasaki, Nagoya University, Japan
Authors: K. Sasaki, Nagoya University, Japan
J.-S. Gao, Nagoya University, Japan
N. Nafarizal, Nagoya University, Japan
H. Toyoda, Nagoya University, Japan
S. Iwata, Nagoya University, Japan
T. Kato, Nagoya University, Japan
S. Tsunashima, Nagoya University, Japan
H. Sugai, Nagoya University, Japan
Correspondent: Click to Email
In the cases of light elements and rare gases, the densities of metastable states are negligible in comparison with the densities of the ground states. On the other hand, in the cases of metal atoms, the densities of metastable states are possibly much higher because of the low excitation energies. The excitation energy of the metastable @super 2@D state of Cu is 1.39 eV, which is lower than electron temperatures of usual magnetron sputtering plasmas. In this case, the density of the metastable state could be comparable to the ground-state (@super 2@S state) density. In this work, we measured the spatial distributions of the Cu atom densities at the ground and metastable states in a conventional magnetron sputtering plasma source with a Cu target by laser-induced fluorescence imaging spectroscopy. The absolute densities of the ground and metastable states were determined by ultraviolet absorption spectroscopy employing a Cu hollow cathode lamp as the light source. As s result, it was found that the density of the metastable state was on the same order as the ground-state density. The spatial distributions of the ground and metastable densities were different. Accordingly, the metastable density affects the total Cu atom density and the distribution. In addition, since the chemical reactivity of the metastable state may be different from that of the ground state, it is necessary to consider the influence of the metastable state in the kinetics of Cu in the gas phase and on the surface. @FootnoteText@ This work was supported by 21st century COE (Center of Excellence) Program "Information Nano-Devices Based on Advanced Plasma Science" of Nagoya University.