SIMULATION OF ION-BEAM ASSISTED DEPOSITION - A COMPARISON WITH EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS

Ion beam irradiation of thin films during deposition causes some considerable changes in the principal properties of the films, such as hardness, stress, density, etc. The interfacial mixing of the boundary layers between the film and the substrate also takes place as a result of ion bombardment. In this paper, we present the results of a simulation code for investigations on the effects of ion bombardment during ion beam-assisted deposition. Some basic physical phenomena, such as interfacial mixing, atomic mixing within the film, sputtering, and incorporation of the projectiles, are accounted for in this model. We also discuss the experimental results of Cu and Ti films which are prepared by ion beam-assisted deposition, conventional vacuum deposition, and sputtering, on a variety of substrates. The results of RBS studies of these films, and the scratching tests for determining the adhesion will be presented. The experimental results show that the thin films of Cu and Ti that are prepared by the ion beam-assisted deposition method have a better adhesion than the films prepared by the other two methods.