Influence of inert gases on the reactive high power pulsed magnetron sputtering process of carbon-nitride thin films

Schmidt, Susann; Czigany, Zsolt; Greczynski, Grzegorz; Jensen, Jens; Hultman, Lars

doi:10.1116/1.4769725

Title: Influence of inert gases on the reactive high power pulsed magnetron sputtering process of carbon-nitride thin films

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Abstract

The influence of inert gases (Ne, Ar, Kr) on the sputter process of carbon and carbon-nitride (CN{sub x}) thin films was studied using reactive high power pulsed magnetron sputtering (HiPIMS). Thin solid films were synthesized in an industrial deposition chamber from a graphite target. The peak target current during HiPIMS processing was found to decrease with increasing inert gas mass. Time averaged and time resolved ion mass spectroscopy showed that the addition of nitrogen, as reactive gas, resulted in less energetic ion species for processes employing Ne, whereas the opposite was noticed when Ar or Kr were employed as inert gas. Processes in nonreactive ambient showed generally lower total ion fluxes for the three different inert gases. As soon as N{sub 2} was introduced into the process, the deposition rates for Ne and Ar-containing processes increased significantly. The reactive Kr-process, in contrast, showed slightly lower deposition rates than the nonreactive. The resulting thin films were characterized regarding their bonding and microstructure by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy. Reactively deposited CN{sub x} thin films in Ar and Kr ambient exhibited an ordering toward a fullerene-like structure, whereas carbon and CN{sub x} films deposited in Ne atmosphere were found tomore »« less

Authors:

Schmidt, Susann; Czigany, Zsolt; Greczynski, Grzegorz; Jensen, Jens; Hultman, Lars ^[1]

Thin Film Physics Div., Department of Physics (IFM), Linkoeping University, SE-581 83 (Sweden)

Publication Date:: Tue Jan 15 00:00:00 EST 2013

OSTI Identifier:: 22099143

Resource Type:: Journal Article

Journal Name:: Journal of Vacuum Science and Technology. A, Vacuum, Surfaces and Films

Additional Journal Information:: Journal Volume: 31; Journal Issue: 1; Other Information: (c) 2013 American Vacuum Society; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); Journal ID: ISSN 0734-2101

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

Subject:: 36 MATERIALS SCIENCE; 75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY; 37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY; ARGON; BONDING; CARBON NITRIDES; DEPOSITION; FULLERENES; GRAPHITE; KRYPTON; MAGNETRONS; MASS SPECTROSCOPY; MICROSTRUCTURE; NITROGEN; PEAKS; SPUTTERING; TAIL IONS; THIN FILMS; TIME RESOLUTION; TRANSMISSION ELECTRON MICROSCOPY; X-RAY PHOTOELECTRON SPECTROSCOPY

Citation Formats


                    Schmidt, Susann, Czigany, Zsolt, Greczynski, Grzegorz, Jensen, Jens, Hultman, Lars, Institute of Technical Physics and Materials Science, Research Centre for Natural Sciences, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Konkoly Thege Miklos ut 29-33. H-1121 Budapest, and Thin Film Physics Div., Department of Physics. Influence of inert gases on the reactive high power pulsed magnetron sputtering process of carbon-nitride thin films.  United States: N. p., 2013. 
        Web.  doi:10.1116/1.4769725.

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                    Schmidt, Susann, Czigany, Zsolt, Greczynski, Grzegorz, Jensen, Jens, Hultman, Lars, Institute of Technical Physics and Materials Science, Research Centre for Natural Sciences, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Konkoly Thege Miklos ut 29-33. H-1121 Budapest, & Thin Film Physics Div., Department of Physics. Influence of inert gases on the reactive high power pulsed magnetron sputtering process of carbon-nitride thin films.  United States.  https://doi.org/10.1116/1.4769725

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                    Schmidt, Susann, Czigany, Zsolt, Greczynski, Grzegorz, Jensen, Jens, Hultman, Lars, Institute of Technical Physics and Materials Science, Research Centre for Natural Sciences, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Konkoly Thege Miklos ut 29-33. H-1121 Budapest, and Thin Film Physics Div., Department of Physics. 2013.  
        "Influence of inert gases on the reactive high power pulsed magnetron sputtering process of carbon-nitride thin films".  United States.  https://doi.org/10.1116/1.4769725.

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@article{osti_22099143,

  title        = {Influence of inert gases on the reactive high power pulsed magnetron sputtering process of carbon-nitride thin films},

  author       = {Schmidt, Susann and Czigany, Zsolt and Greczynski, Grzegorz and Jensen, Jens and Hultman, Lars and Institute of Technical Physics and Materials Science, Research Centre for Natural Sciences, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Konkoly Thege Miklos ut 29-33. H-1121 Budapest and Thin Film Physics Div., Department of Physics},

  abstractNote = {The influence of inert gases (Ne, Ar, Kr) on the sputter process of carbon and carbon-nitride (CN{sub x}) thin films was studied using reactive high power pulsed magnetron sputtering (HiPIMS). Thin solid films were synthesized in an industrial deposition chamber from a graphite target. The peak target current during HiPIMS processing was found to decrease with increasing inert gas mass. Time averaged and time resolved ion mass spectroscopy showed that the addition of nitrogen, as reactive gas, resulted in less energetic ion species for processes employing Ne, whereas the opposite was noticed when Ar or Kr were employed as inert gas. Processes in nonreactive ambient showed generally lower total ion fluxes for the three different inert gases. As soon as N{sub 2} was introduced into the process, the deposition rates for Ne and Ar-containing processes increased significantly. The reactive Kr-process, in contrast, showed slightly lower deposition rates than the nonreactive. The resulting thin films were characterized regarding their bonding and microstructure by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy. Reactively deposited CN{sub x} thin films in Ar and Kr ambient exhibited an ordering toward a fullerene-like structure, whereas carbon and CN{sub x} films deposited in Ne atmosphere were found to be amorphous. This is attributed to an elevated amount of highly energetic particles observed during ion mass spectrometry and indicated by high peak target currents in Ne-containing processes. These results are discussed with respect to the current understanding of the structural evolution of a-C and CN{sub x} thin films.},

  doi          = {10.1116/1.4769725},

  url          = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/22099143},
  journal      = {Journal of Vacuum Science and Technology. A, Vacuum, Surfaces and Films},

  issn         = {0734-2101},

  number       = 1,

  volume       = 31,

  place        = {United States},

  year         = {Tue Jan 15 00:00:00 EST 2013},

  month        = {Tue Jan 15 00:00:00 EST 2013}

}

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