Structural evolution of sputtered molybdenum thin film growth

The characterization of the dc-sputtered molybdenum film growth (working argon gas pressure (P-Ar): 0.13 similar to 3.3 Pa, film thickness: less than 420 nm) has been performed. The preferred orientation is evaluated by the X-ray diffraction measurement of the pole density distribution. At both P-Ar regions, i. e., at a low pressure of 0.13 Pa and at high pressures more than 2.7 Pa, the degree of (110) preferred orientation increases gradually with their film growth. At the intermediate pressure region, however, a fashion of the film growth including;he transition of the preferred orientation from (110) to (210) and/or (111) is found. The P-Ar dependence and the film thickness dependence of other properties such as grain size, lattice strain, internal film stress and surface roughness are also recognized.