Prof. G.S. Kirichenko Prof. V.A. Saenko Dr. A.G. Borisenko

Know How!

The new type of the plasma source and the thin film deposition technology on the basis of the Arc Discharge in the Vapors of the Anode Materials (ADVAM)

Thin Films Deposition Technology
The new type of the plasma source and the thin film deposition technology on the basis of the arc discharge in the vapors of the anode materials (ADVAM) were constructed. The previous studies as well as the tests of plasma source models have shown, that:

1. It is possible to produce the films with a large adhesion on substrates from different kinds of materials without the use of additional sub-layers ensuring the needed adhesion level, in particular the films of copper on Si, SiO₂, and others.
2. Ion part in a plasma flow of a source can be regulated from 10 % up to 80 % depending on the chosen mode of work, working material and constructional features of a used plasma source. In particular, for a copper plasma flow the part of ions in a flow equals up to 35 %, and for Ti it reaches 85 %. This allows to create technological modes with the self-sputtering of deposited films by ions of the plasma flow itself.
3. It was found with the help of a reverse Rutherford scattering technique that the amount of impurities in deposited copper films at different operating plasma source modes does not exceed 0.05 %. Use of high-quality copper mirrors with reflection factor of 99.2 % which were manufactured with the help of our methods, confirms these data.
4. Our studies have shown that by a choice of the appropriate mode of a plasma source operation, it is possible to regulate as a value of an insulated dielectric substrate floating potential, as the energy reaching the ion substrate, and by this way to avoid or considerably reduce the quantity of defects in deposited films or in superficial layers of a substrate.

Practical applications.
With the help of this source

• high-quality copper laser mirrors with reflection factor of 99.2 % ( l =1.315 microns),
• contrast x-ray photo masks,
• high-quality functional, conducting, contact and barrier layers in microelectronics,
• conducting layers and executive elements in micromechanics,
• a series of protective and decorative coverings, including coverings of multicomponent structure were created and used.

Possible practical use of the offered development.
Offered for development plasma sources can be applied for:

1. Technological operations in manufacturing the microcircuits of sub-micron technologies in which absence of a drop phase in the flow, fraction of ions in it, presence of a compensated flow volumetric charge are extremely important. The source can effectively be used in the new "know-how" of microcircuits with different purposes, and with the use of copper instead of aluminium.
2. Deposition of high-adhesive films of a wide series of materials (Cu, Ni, Cr, Ti, Ta, Nb, Mo, W, U, Au, Ag and others) and coverings of different purposes on dielectric, semi-conductor and metal substrates (including copper films ) without additional sub-layers. Deposition of high-adhesive sub-layers. Deposition of superthin films.
3. Deposition of films and coatings which can simultaneously and purposefully influence on their properties due to the controlled change of ion component parameters in a deposited plasma flow without introducing additional harmful impurities in the film structure.
4. Realizations of technological modes with regulated self-sputtering of deposited by ions films in the used plasma flow. Such modes can represent a basis of new technological processes of conducting copper layers formation in manufacturing the microcircuits of sub-micron technology.
5. Deposition of films and coatings based on intercompounds of metals with gases: nitrides, oxides, borides and others.

This plasma source was successfully used for the high-adhesive films production for various aims: high-quality copper laser mirrors; contrast x-ray masks; high-quality functional, conducting, contact and barrier layers for microelectronics; conducting layers and executive elements in micromechanics; a number of protective and decorative coverings, including multicomponent coverings.

APPLICATIONS
Technological processes of microelectronics, micromechanics, precision instrument manufacture, deposition of protective, hardening, corrosion-resisting and decorative coatings.
This plasma source can generate macroparticle-free plasma flows of various substances with controllable ion energies, starting Ei ( 50 eV, to form functional layers with minimum structural defects and high adhesibility. High fraction of ions in flow allows one to directly process the growing covering by ions of deposited material without use of ions of other chemical elements, thus increasing purity and quality of films.
The sources are estimated to be applicable for manufacturing of copper films, instead of aluminum films, in microelectronics. Operation modes with controlled self-sputtering of deposited films by ions may be especially useful for producing of conducting copper layers in manufacturing of microcircuits with sub-micron patterns.
It can be used for vacuum deposition of high-adhesive thin films of metals with different melting temperatures and chemical activities in melted state. Also, for deposition of thin films of complex composition (oxides, nitrides, and carbides), during the pure-gas discharge the source is used to carryout the final ion refinement of substrates justs before the thin film deposition.
The source is compatible with any standard equipment, it is intended for thin film deposition.