Hello,
Is it possible to have different particle structure at different deposition powers under the same background gas pressure?
I am depositing Ni-cermet thin films of about 250nm on avg. thickness via RF sputtering at various sputtering powers of 50W-200W. Regardless of the background reactive gas pressure, the micro-structure for 50W Ni-cermet is rice like, for 100W it changes to granular, for 150 one can see a mix of granular and circular while for 200W the structure of the Ni-cermet is completely circular.
Can anyone please explain what is causing this phenomenon.
Much Appreciated
Hi
The power of your device means the energy per time, so with difference in power the amount of energy which you ionize your Ar ( maybe other gases) gas will change. As the kinetic enrgy of ionized particles is changing for each run, their influence on substrate is different and it will cause different shapes of Nps.
Also, the gas pressure and the RF power both determine the sputtered particle energy (when it arrives on the substrate surface). And if the substrate is heated up, it could be another energy source. To get the particle structure, maybe you need to carefully balance these. Most of case, it's a combination of all these
Dear Waqas,
We grow oxides using pulsed laster deposition. In our case, by changing repetition rate of laser beam we can change the shape of grain to uniform layers. It all connected with density of material depositing on substrate means rate of deposition which effects the diffusion of materials on the surface of the substrates. In your case, I think, you are changing the rate of deposition that is connected with diffusion and finally shape of the grains.
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