Plasma diagnostics of hybrid magnetron sputtering and pulsed laser deposition

This paper investigates the use of advanced triggering to synchronize a pulsed laser ablated plasma from a ceramic target with a pulsed DC sputtering plasma from a metal target for the purposes of depositing nanocomposite thin-films at low substrate temperatures. A digital oscilloscope and a programmable delay generator were used to prescribe the synchronization time of the two plasmas and frequency of discharge of the laser. Films were grown with different times of synchronization and subsequently characterized using X-ray diffraction and XPS. A multichannel analyzer was used to monitor the plasma emissions to determine spatial evolution of the synchronized pulsed plasma and a spectrometer was used to determine if additional spectra were generated through the interaction of the two plasmas. The studies did not show a clear presence of a new chemical compound formed in the hybrid plasma, but indicated an enhancement of the laser ablated plasma excitation in the presence of pulsed magnetron plasma process. This additional plasma excitation occurred at certain timing of the two pulsed plasma sources and was used to produce a Zr(Y)O-2/Mo film containing crystalline ZrO2- Present results indicate that crystalline ceramic films can be deposited at low substrate temperature in which the film crystallinity is enhanced based on the synchronization timing. (c) 2006 Published by Elsevier B.V.