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Emission spectra in the visible and near ultraviolet have been recorded for the magnetron sputtering of titanium by argon at pressures between 0.5 and 100 Pa. Intense emission lines from both atomic and ionic material were detected, and comparison of line intensities yielded an ionization fraction of over 10% and an electron temperature of the order of 1 eV for the sputtered material. The ionization fraction decreased with increasing magnetron power, and an optimal operating pressure was found for maximum ion content of the sputtered flux. Scaling laws of emission line intensity with magnetron power indicated the incomplete thermalization of sputtered metal with the sputtering plasma, and spatially resolved measurements of ionization profiles were used to investigate the transport and collisional ionization of sputtered material. Penning ionization of sputtered titanium by metastable argon was found to be the dominant ionization process, and the effect of diffusion of metastable argon was noted. Control of ion content in sputtered fluxes is of interest for the deposition of thin films and for metallization of semiconductors.

Silver films have been deposited under controlled ion bombardment by ionized magnetron sputter deposition (IMSD). The technique uses a built-in rf coil to generate an inductively coupled plasma confined close to the substrate. This enables precise control of both the bombarding ion flux (by rf power) and the energy (by substrate bias). By varying the flux and energy of bombarding ions, the film’s structure and properties can be easily modified. Crystallography, grain size, and film texture have been characterized using the x-ray diffraction method, and film stress was measured by a substrate curvature technique. A focused ion beam was used to section the deposited films and to observe the surface morphology and cross-sectional structure. The electrical resistivity ratio (room to liquid nitrogen temperature: R298 K/R77 K) was used to investigate the influence of the film structure on the conductivity. The persistence of bombardment induced film property variation with thickness was studied in terms of the texture variation in bilayers consisting of IMSD and magnetron sputtering deposited films. It is found that the microstructure of deposited films depends predominantly on the ion bombardment during the initial stages of film growth. Using the IMSD technique, the structure and related properties of silver films have been modified by depositing films under precisely controlled ion bombardment.

Thin films of Ti–Si–N have been deposited by ionized magnetron sputter deposition using separate Ti and Si targets in an Ar/N2 gas mixture. A built-in rf coil generated an inductively coupled plasma close to the substrate. With this setup, the ion flux and energy can be controlled by adjusting the rf power to the coil and the dc substrate bias. Deposition was carried out under various conditions to investigate the effects of different operational parameters on film structure and mechanical properties. Crystallography, grain size, and film texture have been characterized by x-ray diffraction, showing that the addition of Si to TiN films transforms the (111)-oriented structure to a preferred (200)-oriented structure. The nanocrystallite domain size of the TiN, calculated from peak broadening, was found to be less than 10 nm. No signals from crystalline Si3N4 or other phases of titanium silicide were observed. The hardness of the films, measured using nanoindentation, increased to as much as twice that of pure TiN films.Thin films of Ti–Si–N have been deposited by ionized magnetron sputter deposition using separate Ti and Si targets in an Ar/N2 gas mixture. A built-in rf coil generated an inductively coupled plasma close to the substrate. With this setup, the ion flux and energy can be controlled by adjusting the rf power to the coil and the dc substrate bias. Deposition was carried out under various conditions to investigate the effects of different operational parameters on film structure and mechanical properties. Crystallography, grain size, and film texture have been characterized by x-ray diffraction, showing that the addition of Si to TiN films transforms the (111)-oriented structure to a preferred (200)-oriented structure. The nanocrystallite domain size of the TiN, calculated from peak broadening, was found to be less than 10 nm. No signals from crystalline Si3N4 or other phases of titanium silicide were observed. The hardness of the films, measured using nanoindentation, increased to as much as twice that of pu...