On the Causes and Effects of Contaminations during rf Diode Deposition of Cr‐Si Alloys

Investigations to the causes and effects of contaminants at the rf diode deposition of CrSi films in a non‐heated high vacuum apparatus were carried out comparing an oxygen‐free fusion target with an oxygen‐containing cermet target. The films of the fusion target contained considerable amounts of oxygen; analogously the oxygen concentration in the films was increased in the case of the cermet target. Moreover, hydrogen was found. The concentration of the contaminants decreased with the sputtering power, however the rate of incorporation increased. For high sputtering rates the contamination process was reproducible and independent of the plant conditioning; the deposited films were depth‐homogeneous. The reasons for this behaviour lie in water sources which are activated first of all by the discharge itself. The electrical properties found are explained by the contaminants and the deposition conditions.