High-pressure magnetron sputtering: gas-phase processes

Thermalization of the energetic atoms emitted by a target at pressures up to 100 Pa causes heating and motion of the gaseous medium. The temperature and velocity of the gas have been measured as a function of the magnetron-discharge parameters. This paper presents the dependences of the deposition rate, the thickness profile, and the film structure on the pressure and the discharge power. If shows that they are well described by a simple diffusion model of the transport of the thermalized atoms of the target that takes into account the motion and, heating of the gaseous medium. (C) 1998 American Institute of Physics. [S1063-7842(98)00507-8].