ABNORMAL HIGH-RATE DEPOSITION OF TIN FILMS BY THE RADIO-FREQUENCY PLASMA-JET SYSTEM

Radio frequency Ar and Ar + N-2 plasma jets generated in a hollow electrode terminated by a small size Ti nozzle were used for deposition of Ti and TiN films. The regime with low content of reactive gas resulted in an extreme enhancement of TiN deposition rate, more than one order higher than that of Ti. Abrupt increase of the nozzle temperature to >1350 degrees C in this regime is caused by additional thermal energy imparted to the nozzle. Abrupt decrease of the cathode de self-bias and simultaneous steep increase of the optical emission from Ti and from ions Ti+, N-2(+), and Ar+ indicate the transition of the discharge into the RPJ-arc. This reflects in an enhanced production of Ti and Ti+ which leads to a high rate (approximate to mu m/min) growth of films. The microhardness of films at low nitrogen content is similar to 2600 HV25 and the film resistivity is 80 mu Omega cm. Geometry of the particle transport and the distribution of the film thickness on substrates confirm a hollow profile of the particle density distribution in the plasma jet.