AVS 53rd International Symposium
    Thin Film Tuesday Sessions
       Session TF-TuP

Paper TF-TuP20
Target Surface Compound Layers Formed by Reactive Sputtering of Si Target in Ar+O@sub 2@ and Ar+N@sub 2@ Mixed Gases

Tuesday, November 14, 2006, 6:00 pm, Room 3rd Floor Lobby

Session: Thin Film Poster Session
Presenter: Y. Abe, Kitami Institute of Technology, Japan
Authors: Y. Abe, Kitami Institute of Technology, Japan
T. Takisawa, Kitami Institute of Technology, Japan
M. Kawamura, Kitami Institute of Technology, Japan
K. Sasaki, Kitami Institute of Technology, Japan
Correspondent: Click to Email
Reactive sputtering is a useful method to form compound thin films by sputtering a metal target in reactive gas atmosphere. The surface state of the metal target change with sputtering conditions and makes important effects on deposition rate, chemical composition of the deposited films, and plasma state. However, quantitative studies on the surface state of the target were scarce. In this study, Si target was sputtered in Ar+O@sub 2@ and Ar+N@sub 2@ mixed gases and SiO@sub 2@, and Si@sub 3@N@sub 4@ thin films were deposited using a RF magnetron sputtering system. The maximum thickness of the oxide and nitride layers formed at the surface of the Si target was measured by ellipsometry. The oxide and nitride layer thicknesses formed at the target surface were found to be 7 nm and 4 nm, respectively. The rate of oxide layer formation at the surface of the Si target in oxygen plasma is thought to be higher than that of nitride layer in nitrogen plasma.