Effects of atomic weight, gas pressure, and target-to-substrate distance on deposition rates in the sputter deposition process

Abstract

The transport process of sputtered atoms has been studied experimentally through deposition rate measurement by changing the target-to-substrate (T-S) distance systematically along with the gas pressure and target element. The deposition rate showed power-law decay with the T-S distance, and the slope of the log-log plot became steep at a transition pressure. The transition pressure decreased as the mass of the sputtered atoms decreased, which suggested that the transition was related to the transport of the sputtered atoms and their thermalization. Two separated thickness monitors showed that the thickness uniformity was worsened by the thermalization.