Growth kinetics of sputtered amorphous carbon thin films: composition studies and phenomenological model

Abstract The kinetics of carbon sputter deposition on Si(100) substrates were studied by spectroscopic ellipsometry (SE) and X-ray reflectivity (XRR). The energy of ions bombarding the growing film varied by applying a bias voltage on the substrate inducing considerable changes of film density and composition. Both SE and XRR detected an initial nucleation stage during which a SiC interlayer was formed. A phenomenological model based on the rate equations for the carbon deposition on Si is proposed to describe the experimental results. The model includes the processes of carbon adsorption, formation of SiC and transition from sp 2 to sp 3 sites induced by low-energy ion bombardment. The calibration of the model was performed with the experimental results regarding the variation of deposition rates. It is shown that the non-monotonous kinetics of film growth is determined by the variations of surface composition at different stages of growth. The variation of model parameters, such as reaction constants and sticking coefficients, during fitting the experimental results for various ion energies extracted information regarding the prevailing processes taking place at each stage of the deposition process.

[1]  S. Logothetidis,et al.  The effect of substrate bias in amorphous carbon films prepared by magnetron sputtering and monitored by in-situ spectroscopic ellipsometry , 1998 .

[2]  Optical properties and new vibrational modes in carbon films , 2000 .

[3]  Robert P. H. Chang,et al.  Pulsed laser deposition of amorphous diamond-like carbon films with ArF (193 nm) excimer laser , 1993 .

[4]  M. Jaouen,et al.  Phenomenological model of ion irradiation effects on the possibilities of diamond nucleation enhancement , 1997 .

[5]  Y. Pauleau,et al.  Mechanisms of intrinsic stress generation in amorphous carbon thin films prepared by magnetron sputtering , 1997 .

[6]  C. Charitidis,et al.  A new process for the development of hard and stable sputtered amorphous carbon films , 1999 .

[7]  D. Mckenzie.  Tetrahedral bonding in amorphous carbon , 1996 .

[8]  R. Lossy,et al.  Filtered arc deposition of amorphous diamond , 1992 .

[9]  P. Komninou,et al.  Polycrystalline diamond formation by post-growth ion bombardment of sputter-deposited amorphous carbon films , 1999 .

[10]  J. Robertson.  The deposition mechanism of diamond-like a-C and a-C: H , 1994 .

[11]  C. Davis,et al.  A simple model for the formation of compressive stress in thin films by ion bombardment , 1993 .

[12]  D. Aspnes.  Optical properties of thin films , 1982 .

[13]  C. Charitidis,et al.  Insights on the deposition mechanism of sputtered amorphous carbon films , 1999 .

[14]  J. L. Vries.  The Early Years of X-Ray Diffraction and X-Ray Spectrometry , 1995 .

[15]  S. Logothetidis.  Hydrogen‐free amorphous carbon films approaching diamond prepared by magnetron sputtering , 1996 .

[16]  S. Tamulevičius,et al.  Elementary processes in thin film formation stimulated by high energy ion irradiation , 1994 .

[17]  J. Ziegler,et al.  stopping and range of ions in solids , 1985 .

[18]  Grossman,et al.  Substantiation of subplantation model for diamondlike film growth by atomic force microscopy. , 1994, Physical review letters.

[19]  C. Charitidis,et al.  Elastic properties of hydrogen-free amorphous carbon thin films and their relation with carbon–carbon bonding , 1999 .

[20]  B. Deryagin,et al.  The crystallization of diamond , 1989 .

[21]  Amorphous carbon films rich in diamond deposited by magnetron sputtering , 1997 .

[22]  S. Logothetidis,et al.  Effect of the layered structure on the electronic properties of amorphous carbon films on n-Si , 1999 .

[23]  Lifshitz,et al.  Subplantation model for film growth from hyperthermal species: Application to diamond. , 1989, Physical review letters.

[24]  S. Logothetidis,et al.  Studies of density and surface roughness of ultrathin amorphous carbon films with regards to thickness with x-ray reflectometry and spectroscopic ellipsometry , 1997 .

[25]  McKenzie,et al.  Compressive-stress-induced formation of thin-film tetrahedral amorphous carbon. , 1991, Physical review letters.

[26]  W. Jacob,et al.  Surface reactions during growth and erosion of hydrocarbon films , 1998 .