Plasma- and Ion-Beam Assisted Physical Vapor Deposition: Processes and Materials

Abstract

Physical vapor deposition (PVD) includes any thin film process involving the deposition of physically generated atoms or molecules onto a substrate in a vacuum environment. Evaporation, sputtering, and ion plating, the fundamental PVD processes, are characterized by the physical mechanism by which the vapor flux is generated. Modification of these basic processes (e.g., by addition of an ion beam) accounts for the apparent numerous PVD processes in the literature. In spite of minor processing variations, PVD processes have many common features including: (1) a high vacuum system with low impurity gas levels and with the ability to input controlled flow rates or partial pressures of one or more working gases; (2) a coating material source(s) with a well-controlled and often monitored vapor flux; and (3) a substrate mounting assembly which controls substrate temperature and distance/orientation to the coating source. Plasma and ion-beam assisted PVD processes are derived from the fundamental evaporation, sputtering, and ion plating processes through, for example, incorporation of a bias voltage to create a glow discharge.