Effect of hydrogen on the deposition rate for planar rf magnetron sputtering of hydrogenated amorphous silicon

摘要

The deposition rate for planar magnetron sputtered films of a‐Si:H has been measured for a wide range of hydrogen and argon pressures and applied rf power. At high sputter pressures the rate decreases mainly from a loss of material due to scattering effects within the plasma, while for high H2/Ar ratios, a decrease is observed resulting from the low sputter efficiency of H+ ions. For the first time a model is presented which describes quantitatively the deposition rate as a function of these parameters. These results indicate that less than 0.5% of the added hydrogen is ionized by the rf discharge which accounts for the low sensitivity of the magnetron sputtering process to the presence of hydrogen.