Tailoring of structure formation and phase composition in reactively sputtered zirconium oxide films using nitrogen as an additional reactive gas

The structure of ZrO2 films has been controlled during reactive sputtering in an argon∕oxygen atmosphere by adding an amount of nitrogen gas to the process. Depending on the deposition conditions, amorphous, cubic, or monoclinic films have been obtained without any additional substrate heating. The resulting film structure is explained in terms of the control of fast negative oxygen ions generated at the target surface and accelerated toward the growing film. Furthermore, the nitrogen addition leads to a pronounced stabilization of the plasma discharge and fewer arcing events, while the incorporation of nitrogen atoms in the growing film is very small.

[1]  D. Depla,et al.  Correlation between electron and negative O− ion emission during reactive sputtering of oxides , 2007 .

[2]  M. Wuttig,et al.  The effect of target aging on the structure formation of zinc oxide during reactive sputtering , 2007 .

[3]  J. Schneider,et al.  Influence of the negative oxygen ions on the structure evolution of transition metal oxide thin films , 2006 .

[4]  M. Wuttig,et al.  Towards understanding the superior properties of transition metal oxynitrides prepared by reactive DC magnetron sputtering , 2006 .

[5]  M. Wuttig,et al.  Process stabilization and increase of the deposition rate in reactive sputtering of metal oxides and oxynitrides , 2006 .

[6]  R. Hippler,et al.  Characterization of a Magnetron Plasma for Deposition of Titanium Oxide and Titanium Nitride Films , 2005 .

[7]  S. Berg,et al.  Fundamental understanding and modeling of reactive sputtering processes , 2005 .

[8]  M. Wuttig,et al.  Structure formation upon reactive direct current magnetron sputteringof transition metal oxide films , 2004 .

[9]  M. Wuttig,et al.  Correlation between structure, stress and deposition parameters in direct current sputtered zinc oxide films , 2002 .

[10]  M. Wuttig,et al.  Growth and characterization of zirconium oxynitride films prepared by reactive direct current magnetron sputtering , 2002 .

[11]  K. Tominaga,et al.  Energetic oxygen ions in the reactive sputtering of the Zr target in Ar+O2 atmosphere , 2001 .

[12]  I. Mori,et al.  Energetic oxygen particles in the reactive sputtering of Zn targets in Ar/O2 atmospheres , 1999 .

[13]  M. Zeuner,et al.  Sputter process diagnostics by negative ions , 1998 .

[14]  S. O’Leary,et al.  The relationship between the distribution of electronic states and the optical absorption spectrum of an amorphous semiconductor: An empirical analysis , 1997 .

[15]  A. S. Kao,et al.  Modification of zirconia film properties by low‐energy ion bombardment during reactive ion‐beam deposition , 1990 .

[16]  F. Jones.  High‐rate reactive sputter deposition of zirconium dioxide , 1988 .

[17]  J. Sites,et al.  Crystallization of zirconia films by thermal annealing , 1986 .

[18]  P. Martin,et al.  Modification of the optical and structural properties of dielectric ZrO2 films by ion‐assisted deposition , 1984 .

[19]  Y. Shintani,et al.  Energy Analysis of High-Energy Neutral Atoms in the Sputtering of ZnO and BaTiO3 , 1982 .

[20]  R. S. Robinson,et al.  Mean free path of negative ions in diode sputtering , 1978 .