HPPMS deposition from composite targets: Effect of two orders of magnitude target power density changes on the composition of sputtered Cr-Al-C thin films

Abstract The effect of target power density, substrate bias potential and substrate temperature on the thin film composition was studied. A Cr-Al-C composite target was sputtered utilizing direct current (DCMS: 2.3 W/cm 2 ) and high power pulsed magnetron sputtering (HPPMS: 373 W/cm 2 ) generators. At floating potential, all Cr-Al-C thin films showed similar compositions, independently of the applied target power density. However, as substrate bias potential was increased to −400 V, aluminum deficiencies by a factor of up to 1.6 for DCMS and 4.1 for HPPMS were obtained. Based on the measured ion currents at the substrate, preferential re-sputtering of Al is suggested to cause the dramatic Al depletion. As the substrate temperature was increased to 560 °C, the Al concentration was reduced by a factor of up to 1.9 compared to the room temperature deposition. This additional reduction may be rationalized by thermally induced desorption being active in addition to re-sputtering.