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Multi‐instrument characterization of HiPIMS and DC magnetron sputtered tungsten and copper films
Author(s) -
Roychowdhury Tuhin,
Shah Dhruv,
Jain Varun,
Patel Dhananjay I.,
Dodson Berg,
Skinner William,
Hilfiker James N.,
Smith Stacey J.,
Linford Matthew R.
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
surface and interface analysis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.52
H-Index - 90
eISSN - 1096-9918
pISSN - 0142-2421
DOI - 10.1002/sia.6753
Subject(s) - high power impulse magnetron sputtering , x ray photoelectron spectroscopy , materials science , crystallite , analytical chemistry (journal) , sputter deposition , scanning electron microscope , cavity magnetron , copper , thin film , sputtering , nanotechnology , metallurgy , chemistry , chemical engineering , composite material , chromatography , engineering
In this work, copper and tungsten were sputtered onto silicon wafers by direct current magnetron sputtering (DCMS) and high‐power impulse magnetron sputtering (HiPIMS). The resulting films were characterized by energy dispersive X‐ray spectroscopy (EDX), X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), spectroscopic ellipsometry (SE), and X‐ray diffraction (XRD). By EDX and XPS, all the sputtered films showed only the expected metal peaks. By XPS, the surfaces sputtered by DCMS were richer in oxygen than those produced by HiPIMS. By AFM, the surfaces were quite smooth. The root mean square (RMS) roughness values are as follows: 0.83 nm (W, HiPIMS), 1.10 nm (W, DCMS), 0.85 nm (Cu, HiPIMS), and 1.78 nm (Cu, DCMS). By SEM, the HiPIMS films exhibited smaller grain sizes, which was confirmed by XRD. The crystallite sizes estimated by XRD are as follows: 4 nm (W, body‐centered cubic, HiPIMS), 13 nm (W, body‐centered cubic, DCMS), 7 nm (W, cubic, HiPIMS), 14 nm (W, cubic, DCMS), 25 nm (Cu, HiPIMS), and 35 nm (Cu, DCMS). By SE, the HiPIMS surfaces showed higher refractive indices, which suggested that they were denser and less oxidized than the DCMS surfaces.