Deposition of a-CN_x:H Films Using Uniform Supermagnetron Plasma under a Stationary Magnet Field

Haruhisa Kinoshita, Syunsuke Yagi, Motoki Sakurai

Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Shizuoka University, Hamamatsu, Japan.
Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering,Shizuoka University, Hamamatsu, Japan.

DOI: 10.4236/jmp.2013.45083                

Abstract

By generating closed-loop electron E × B drift over the front and back surface of a band magnetron cathode, a uniform magnetron plasma can be formed over the front surface. Here, we attempted to generate a uniform supermagnetron plasma under a stationary magnetic field by situating two such band magnetron cathodes face-to-face in parallel. Performing uniform supermagnetron plasma chemical vapor deposition (CVD) with tetraethylorthosilicate (TEOS)/O₂ CVD, SiO₂ films with good uniformity (±5%) at the central region of the cathode could be achieved under a stationary magnetic field of about 160 G. Using this supermagnetron plasma CVD apparatus, a-CN_x:H films were then deposited to investigate their characteristics using isobutane (i-C₄H₁₀)/N₂ mixed gases. A relatively high deposition rate of about 100 nm/min was obtained. The a-CN_x:H films obtained had a hardness of about 25 GPa, higher than that of glass (22 GPa).

Keywords

SiO₂ Film; a-CN_x:H Film; Supermagnetron Plasma; Band Magnetron; CVD

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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