材料期刊网

Effect of Substrate Bias on Microstructure and Properties of Tetrahedral Amorphous Carbon Films

Jiaqi ZHU , Jiecai HAN , Songhe MENG , Qiang LI , Manlin TAN

材料科学技术（英）

The microstructure and properties of tetrahedral amorphous carbon (ta-C) films deposited by the filtered cathodic vacuum arc technology has been investigated by visible Raman spectroscopy, AFM and Nano-indentor. The Raman spectra have been fitted with a single skewed Lorentzian lineshape described by BWF function defining coupling coefficient, which characterizes the degree of asymmetry and is correlated with the sp3 content. When the substrate bias is -80 V, the sp3 content is the most and simultaneously the coupling coefficient is the least, following with the minimum root mean square surface roughness (Rq=0.23 nm) and the highest hardness (51.49 GPa), Young’s modulus (512.39 GPa), and critical scratching load (11.72 mN). As the substrate bias is increased or decreased, the sp3 content and other properties lower correspondingly.

关键词: Tetrahedral amorphous carbon , null , null

ATOMIC FORCE MICROSCOPY OBSERVATION OF MAGNETRON SPUTTERED ALUMINUM-SILICON ALLOY FILMS

金属学报(英文版)

粒裕希停桑谩。疲希遥茫拧。停桑茫遥希樱茫希校佟。希拢樱牛遥郑粒裕桑希巍。希啤。停粒牵危牛裕遥希巍。樱校眨裕裕牛遥牛摹。粒蹋眨停桑危眨停樱桑蹋桑茫希巍。粒蹋蹋希佟。疲桑蹋停?##2##3##4##5ATOMICFORCEMICROSCOPYOBSERVATIONOFMAGNETRONSPUTTEREDALUMINUM-SILICONALLOYFILMSJ.W.Wu,J.H.FangandZ.H.Lu(NationalLaboratoryofMoleculeandBiomoleculeElectronics,SoutheastUniversity,Nanjing210096,ChinaManuscriptreceived27October1995)Abstrcat:Twodifferentsurfacemorphologycharacteristicsofmagnetronsputteredaluminumsilicon(Al-Si)alloyfilmsdepositedat0and200℃wereobservedbyatomicforcemicroscopy(AFM).Oneisirregularlyshapedgrainsputtogtheronaplane.TheotherisirregularlyshapedgrainsPiledupinspace.Nanometer-sizedparticleswithheightsfrom1.6to2.9nmwerefirstobserved.Onthebasisoftheseobservationsthegrowthmechanismofmagnetronsputteredfilmsisdiscussed.Keywords:magnetronsputtering,Al-Sialloy,surfacemorphology,atomicforcemicroscopy,filmgrowthmechanism1.IntroductionTheuseofaluminumalloys[1,2],inparticularAl-Si,isacommonfeatureinmanysinglelevelandmultilevelinterconnectionschemesadoptedinthemanufactureofmicroelectronicdevicesbecauseofseveraldesirableproperties.TheAl-Sigrainmorphology(size.geometryanddistributionofgrainsisassociatedwithstepcoverage[3],electromigration[4]andinterconnectsresistivity[5]etc..Thus,characterizationofAl-Sialloysurfacemorphologyisveryimportant,especiallywhenintegratedintensityincreasesandlinewidthsof0.3to0.5μmbecomecommon.Inthepasttwentyyears,theAl-Sialloysurfacemorphologywhichaffectsthereliabilityofmicroelectronicdeviceshasbeenwidelyinvestigatedbyscanningelectronmicroscopy(SEM),transmissionelectronmicroscopy(TEM)etc.[5-7].However,SEMandTEMhavetheirlimitationorinconvenience,forexample,theverticalresolutionofSEMisnothighandTEMneedscomplexsamplepreparation.Recently,anewgrainboundaryetchingmethodwasproposed￣[8]whichalsoneedstroublesomechemicaletching.Atomicforcemicroscopy(AFM),sinceitsemerging,hasbecomemoreandmoreusefulinphysics,chemistry,materialsscienceandsurfacescience,becauseofitshighresolution,easeofsamplepreparationandrealsurfacetopography.Recently,discussion[9,10]waspresentedonhowAFMwillplayaroleinsemiconductorindustry.Asaresponsetothisdiscussion,weusedAFMtoinvestigateAl-SialloysurfacemorphologyandhaveobtainedsomeresultswhichcannotberevealedbySEMorTEM.ThisindicatesthatAFMisagoodcharacterizationtoolinsemiconductorindustry.2.SamplePreparationInourexperiments,aluminumwith30ppmsiliconwassputteredonsiliconsubstrateinbatchdepositionmodeAllthreefilmswiththicknessof1.6μmweredepositedusinganargonsputteringpressureof4.2×10￣-3Pa.TheotherdepositionparametersaredescribedinTable1.Thesubstratewascleanedusingstandardpremetallizationcleaningtechniquespriortofilmdeposition.3.ExperimentalResultsandDiscussionTheAFMmeasurementswereperformedonacommercialsystem(NanoscopeIII,DigitalInstruments,SantaBarbara).Thetipismadeofmicrofabricatedsiliconnitride(Si_3N_4)Itisattachedtoa200μmcantileverwithaforceconstantofabout0.12N/m.Beforethesurfaceofsamplewasexamined.agoodtipwithananometer-sizedprotrusionatitsendwasselectedbeforehand,whichcanbeobtainedbyimagingtheatomicstructureofmicasubstrateandagoldgrid.AtypicaloperatingforcebetweenthetipandAl-Sisamplesurfaceisoftheorderof10￣-8Nandallimagesweretakenatroomtemperatureinair.AtypicaltopographicviewoftheAl-SifilmsisshowninFig.1(allimagescansizeis5by5μma,bandcarerespectivelyforsample1,2,and3).FromFig.la,itcanbeseenthatirregularlyshapedgrainstiltinginvaryingdegreespileupinspace,andgroovesamongtheirregularlyshapedgrainsaredifficulttodecideatacertainarea(wedefineitascharacteristicA).Toourknowledge,onreportsonthesurfacemorphologyhavebeenpresentedbefore.InFig1b,however,irregularlyshapedgrainsassembleonaPlaneandgroovesamongtheirregularlyshapedgrainsareeasytodecide(wedefineitascharacteristicB),whichisinagreementwithmanypreviousreports[5-7].InFig.1c,bothcharacteristicA(arrowA)andcharacteristicB(arrowB)wereobserved.IndoingAFMexperiments,weselectedfivedifferentscanareastobeimagedforeachsampleandfoundthatallimagesofeachsamplearerespectivelysimilartoFig.1a,bandc.Also,wenotedthatthesurfaceofinFig.1a.WethinkthatdepositionparameterswillinfluenceAl-Sisurfacemorphology,andthetiltedgrainsmaybesusceptibletomicrocracking.Byreducingthescansizeareato2by2μm(Fig.2aandb).Weobtainedmanyidenticalresultsasdescribedabove,suchasirregularlyshapedgrainsetc.Forthefirsttime,wefoundnanometersizedparticlesonirregularlyshapedgrainsurfacewhichcannotberevealedbySEMbecausethediameterofthesenanoparticlesisabout10nmandtheheightofthesenanoparticlesisintherangeof1.6to2.9nm.Inimaging,wenotedthatrotatingthescandirectionandchangingthescanfrequencydidnotaffectthestructureofthesegrainsasshowninFig.2aandb,rulingoutthepossibilitythatscanninginfluencedtheshapeoftheseparticlesorcausedsomesimilarimagingartifacts.Also,wenotedthatthenanoparticleswerenotobservedontheslopesofthegrooves(Fig.2aandb).Thisphenomenoncanbeexplainedasfollows:thepotentialenergyattheslopeislargerthanthatelsewhere,sotheparticlesseemmorelikelytobedepositedontheseareaswithlowerpotentialenergy.Fig.2c,scansize250by250nm,isazoomtopographicimage(whiteoutlineinb).Itshowsunevendistributionofthenanoparticles.Andtheheightdifferenceofthenanoparticlesindicatesdifferentgrowingspeed.Wethinkbasedonthemorphologyofnanoparticles,thattheheightdifferenceandunevendistributionofthesenanoparticlesshowdifferentgrowingadvantageandindicatethatatomshaveenoughenergytomovetoasuitablegrowingspot.Theenergymaybefromthefollowingsources:surfacetemperaturefluctuation,stressdifferenceorcollisionbetweenhighspeedsputteredatoms.Thesenanoparticlesgoongrowingandformmanyirregularlyshapedgrains.AndtheseirregularlyshapedgrainsfurtherconnecteachotheraccordingtocharacteristicAorB,finallyformingtheAl-Sisurfacemorphology.4.ConclusionWecandrawthefollowingconclusionsfromtheabove.First,theexperimentalresultsshowedthatAFMisapowerfultooltoinvestigatethedetailsofAl-Sisurfacemorphologywhichcangreatlyenrichourknowledgeofthefilmgrowthmechanism.Second,depositionconditionsplayanimportantroleindeterminingtheAl-Sisurfacemorphology.Third,thetwoAl-Sisurfacemorphologycharacteristicsarethatirregularlyshapedgrainsassembleonaplaneandirregularlyshapedgrainstiltinginvaryingdegreespileupinspace.Fourth,forthefirsttime,nanoparticleswereobservedonirregularlyshapedgrainsurfacewhichsuggestedthatthefilmgrowthmechanismwasbyinhomogeneousnucleation.Acknowledgements-BeneficialdiscussionswereheldwithDr.ZhenandMr.Zhu.ThisworkwaspartiallysupportedbytheNationalNaturalScienceFoundationofChina.RFFERENCES｜｜1D.pramanikandA.N.Saxena,SolidStateTechnol.26(1983)127.2D.pramanikandA.N.Saxena,SolidStateTechnol.26(1983)131.3D.pramanikandA.N.Saxena,SolidStateTechnol.33(1990)73.4S.S.IyerandC.Y.Worg,J.Appl.phys.57(1985)4594.5J.F.Smith,SolidStateTechnol.27(1984)135.6D.GerthandD.Katzer,ThinSolidFilm208(1992)67.7R.J.WilsonandB.L.Weiss,ThinSolidFilm207(1991)291.8E.G.Solley,J.H.Linn,R.W.BelcherandM.G.Shlepr,SolidStateTechnol33(1990)409I.SmithandRHowland,SolidStateTechnol.33(1990)53.10L.Peters,SemiconductorInternational16(1993)62.##61D.pramanikandA.N.Saxena,SolidStateTechnol.26(1983)127.2D.pramanikandA.N.Saxena,SolidStateTechnol.26(1983)131.3D.pramanikandA.N.Saxena,SolidStateTechnol.33(1990)73.4S.S.IyerandC.Y.Worg,J.Appl.phys.57(1985)4594.5J.F.Smith,SolidStateTechnol.27(1984)135.6D.GerthandD.Katzer,ThinSolidFilm208(1992)67.7R.J.WilsonandB.L.Weiss,ThinSolidFilm207(1991)291.8E.G.Solley,J.H.Linn,R.W.BelcherandM.G.Shlepr,SolidStateTechnol33(1990)409I.SmithandRHowland,SolidStateTechnol.33(1990)53.10L.Peters,SemiconductorInternational16(1993)62.##A##BATOMIC FORCE MICROSCOPY OBSERVATION OF MAGNETRON SPUTTERED ALUMINUM-SILICON ALLOY FILMS$$$$J.W.Wu,J.H. Fang and Z.H.Lu (National Laboratory of Molecule and Biomolecule Electronics,Southeast University,Nanjing 210096, China Manuscript received 27 October 1995)Abstrcat:Two different surface morphology characteristics of magnetron sputtered aluminumsilicon(Al-Si)alloy films deposited at 0 and 200℃ were observed by atomic force microscopy(AFM).One is irregularly shaped grains put togther on a plane.The other is irregularly shaped grains Piled up in space. Nanometer-sized particles with heights from 1.6 to 2.9 nm were first observed. On the basis of these observations the growth mechanism of magnetron sputtered films is discussed.

关键词: :magnetron sputtering , null , null , null , null