The structure of Cu-Al films prepared by unbalanced DC magnetron sputtering

Recently, the formation of nanostructured and amorphous materials has been the focus of intense research owing to interest from a basic scientific point of view and their potential technological value. This paper reports on the variation in, and control of, the structure of Cu-Al films prepared in a state-of-the-art unbalanced DC magnetron sputtering system. The structure is shown to be considerably influenced by ion bombardment during growth with both the energy and ratio of impinging ions:arriving atoms playing dominant roles. In addition, the addition of different quantities of Al to the thin film is shown to have a dramatic impact on the structure. The conditions under which nanocrystalline Cu-Al films can be prepared are given. The films were deposited by the magnetron sputter ion plating (MSIP) process using negative substrate biases up to 1000 V and at different argon pressures down to 0.04 Pa. The structure of the films were determined from XRD analyses, An attempt to correlate obtained XRD spectra with the structure of the film is suggested. The resistivities or the films were measured using the four-point probe method, whilst the content of Al was determined from EDX measurements. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science S.A.