Hostname: page-component-5c6d5d7d68-tdptf Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-08-10T02:20:24.019Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Influence of the composition of gas mixture on the stoichiometry of sputter-deposited compound films: The case of zirconium nitrides

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 January 2011

M. Wautelet ,
J. P. Dauchot ,
F. Debal ,
S. Edart  and
M. Hecq
M. Wautelet
Affiliation:
Laboratoire de Chimie Inorganique et Analytique, Université de Mons-Hainaut, 23, Avenue Maistriau, B-7000 Mons, Belgium
J. P. Dauchot
Affiliation:
Laboratoire de Chimie Inorganique et Analytique, Université de Mons-Hainaut, 23, Avenue Maistriau, B-7000 Mons, Belgium
F. Debal
Affiliation:
Laboratoire de Chimie Inorganique et Analytique, Université de Mons-Hainaut, 23, Avenue Maistriau, B-7000 Mons, Belgium
S. Edart
Affiliation:
Laboratoire de Chimie Inorganique et Analytique, Université de Mons-Hainaut, 23, Avenue Maistriau, B-7000 Mons, Belgium
M. Hecq
Affiliation:
Laboratoire de Chimie Inorganique et Analytique, Université de Mons-Hainaut, 23, Avenue Maistriau, B-7000 Mons, Belgium
Get access

Abstract

By means of dc-reactive sputtering, it is possible to vary the stoichiometry of deposited zirconium nitrides, by varying the molar fraction of N2 in an Ar–N2 gas mixture. In order to understand the origin of this effect, a theoretical model of reactive sputtering is devised. It is based on the study of reaction kinetics taking place at the surfaces of the cathode and the chamber walls. In fitting the model with experimental data, it turns out that one has to introduce the roles of Ar, N2, and N species. For reactive sputtering of ZrNz films, a good fit is obtained when it is assumed that the molar fraction of N is constant when the molar fraction of N2 increases up to about 75% (under our experimental conditions). Above this concentration of N2, the concentration of N has to increase. By the analysis of the theoretical model, general scaling laws between experimental parameters (current, pressure, and areas of the cathode and the chamber walls) are easily obtained.

Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Materials Research , Volume 11 , Issue 4 , April 1996 , pp. 825 - 829
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 1996

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

1.Plasma Processing of Materials: Scientific Opportunities and Technological Challenges (National Academy Press, Washington, DC, 1991).Google Scholar
2.Grill, A., Cold Plasma in Materials Fabrication (IEEE Press, New York, 1993).Google Scholar
3.Bogaerts, A., van Straaten, M., and Gijbels, R., Spectrochimica Acta 50B, 179 (1995).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
4.Guimaraes, F. and Bretagne, J., Plasma Sources Sci. Technol. 2, 127 (1993).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
5.Berg, S., Blom, H-O., Larsson, T., and Nender, C., J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A 5, 202 (1987).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
6.Wautelet, M., Debal, F., Dauchot, J. P., and Hecq, M., J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A 13, 2600 (1995).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
7.Dauchot, J. P., Edart, S., Wautelet, M., and Hecq, M., Vacuum 46, 927 (1995).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
8.Ricard, A., in Plasma-Surface Interactions and Processing of Materials, edited by Auciello, O., Gras-Marti, A., Valles-Abarca, J.A., and Flamm, D. L. (Kluwer, Dordrecht, 1990), p. 1.Google Scholar
9.Legrand, P. B., Dauchot, J.P., and Hecq, M., J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A. 10, 945 (1992).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
10.Legrand, P. B., Dauchot, J. P., Hecq, M., Charbonnier, M., and Romand, M., J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A 12, 1551 (1994).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
11. See Ref. 2, p. 90.Google Scholar
12.Wasa, K. and Hayakawa, S., Handbook of Sputter Deposition Technology (Noyes, Park Ridge, NJ, 1992).Google Scholar
13.Koltz, J. H. and Setser, D. W., in Reactive Intermediates in the Gas Phase, edited by Setser, D. W. (Academic Press, New York, 1979), p. 152.Google Scholar
14.Dony, M. F., Ricard, A., Dauchot, J. P., Hecq, M., and Wautelet, M., Surf. Coat. Technol. 74–75, 479 (1995).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
15.Hayward, D. O., in Chemisorption and Reactions on Metallic Films, edited by Andersen, J. R. (Academic Press, New York, 1971), p. 226.Google Scholar