THE EFFECT OF DC SUBSTRATE BIAS ON THICK RF-SPUTTERED CHROMIUM

摘要

In rf-sputtered chromium films, microstructure, density, and intrinsic stress are the properties most affected by dc substrate bias. The density goes through a maximum at ~ -100 volts bias. The lower density at < -100 volts bias is attributed to the porous columnar microstructure and at higher bias (> 100 volts) to argon entrapment (up to ~ 5 wt%). The film density at -100 volts bias was very nearly that of bulk chromium. Film stress seems to be somewhat related to density as the maximum compressive stresses were measured in the -100 to -300 volts samples where the highest densities were also observed.