Module 2 :Thin Film Deposition

Techniques II
Venkateswara Rao Kolli
Assistant Professor
E&C Engineering,

MCE,Hassan.
 Syllabus
• Thin Film Deposition Techniques II:
– [Link] Vapor Deposition,
– [Link] Deposition,
– 3.E-beam Evaporation,
– [Link],
– [Link] Laser Deposition
 [Link] Vapor Deposition
• Many different kinds of thin films in ICs and micromachines are deposited by
evaporation and sputtering, both of which are examples of PVD.
• PVD reactors may use solid, liquid, or vapor as raw material in a variety of source
configurations.
• The key distinguishing attribute to a PVD reactor is that the deposition of the
material onto the substrate is a line-of-site impingement type.
• Since the evaporated atoms are transported through a high-vacuum atmosphere,
very little gas-phase scattering occurs.
• PVD techniques are generally more versatile than CVD methods, allowing for the
deposition of almost any material.
• The constituent species, individual atoms or molecules, are produced by either
evaporation of a solid or molten source, or by using energetic gaseous ions in a
plasma to knock off or sputter the atoms from a source "target.“
• These atoms or molecules then travel though a vacuum or a very low pressure gas
phase, impinge on the wafers, and condense on the surface to form the film.
• Therefore, unlike CVD systems, the mean free path is very long and the atoms travel
in essentially straight lines all the way from the source to the surface of the wafers.
 Physical Vapor Deposition(cont…)
Physical vapor deposition, abbreviated PVD, covers two major methods:
evaporation, and sputtering.
Evaporation is used primarily for metals. The surface of a metal sample held in a
crucible is heated with an incident electron beam.
The flux of vapor atoms from the crucible is allowed to reach the wafer. Such
evaporation must be done under high-vacuum conditions.
Evaporation with an e-beam is quite directional, allowing interesting shadowing
effects to be used.
Sputtering is a process in which chemically inert atoms, such as argon, are ionized
in a glow discharge (also called a plasma).
The ions are accelerated into a target by the electric field in the so-called dark
space at the boundary of the plasma.
Atoms from the target are knocked out (the sputtering process), and these atoms
are allowed to reach the substrate.
Sputtering takes place in a low-pressure gas environment.
It is less directional than e-beam evaporation and typically can achieve much
higher deposition rates
Types of Heat Sources
[Link] Deposition

(tungsten boat )
Figure 1
 Thermal Deposition(cont..)
• Thermal evaporation represents one of the oldest of thin film
deposition techniques.
• Evaporation is based on the boiling off (or sublimating) of a
heated material onto a substrate in a vacuum.
• A metal is usually evaporated by passing a high current through
a highly refractory metal containment structure (e.g., a
tungsten boat or filament).
• Evaporated atoms from the source condense on the surfaces of
the wafers.
• The heater can be of the resistance type, using a tungsten
filament which heats up when current passes through it.
• Resistive evaporation is simple but easily spreads contaminants
that are present in the filament.
• And the small size of the filament limits the thickness of the
deposited film.
 Thermal Deposition(cont…)
• From thermodynamic considerations, the number of
molecules leaving a unit area of evaporant per second or flux
F is given by:
 Thermal Evaporization(cont..)
• The rate of atoms or molecules lost from the source as a
result of evaporation, flux F, in molecules/unit area/unit time
Eqn.3.22), can also be expressed in the following relationship,
derived from kinetic considerations on how the vapor
pressure of the evaporant relates to the evaporation rate:
Thermal Deposition(cont..)
The vapor pressure of the material is a very strong function of temperature,
[Link]
Thin Film Deposition
Transfer atoms from a target to a vapor (or plasma) to a substrate

Wafer, Substrate
Target or Sample
 [Link]…contd….
During sputtering, the target (a disc of the material to be deposited), at a high
negative potential, is bombarded with positive Argon created in a plasma.

The target material is sputtered away mainly as neutral atoms by momentum

transfer and ejected surface atoms are deposited (condensed) onto the
substrate placed on the anode (Figure 2.8).

Sputtering is preferred over evaporation in many applications due to a wider

choice of materials to work with, better step coverage, and better adhesion to
the substrate.

Actually, sputtering is employed in laboratories and production settings,

whereas evaporation mainly remains a laboratory technique.

Other reasons to choose sputtering over evaporation can be concluded from a

comparison of the two techniques in Table3.2.

As most aspects pertaining to the physics and chemistries of dc and RF plasmas

only amplify the material here as it applies to deposition.
 Sputtering..contd
During ion bombardment, the source is not heated to high temperature, and the
vapor pressure of the source is not a consideration as it is in vacuum-evaporation.

The amount of material, W, sputtered from the cathode is inversely proportional to

the gas pressure, PT, and the anode-cathode distance, d

The amount of material, W, sputtered from the cathode is inversely proportional

to the gas pressure, PT, and the anode-cathode distance, d:20
Sputtering..contd
 Sputtering..contd
After evacuation of air, an inert gas, such as argon or helium, is introduced into the
chamber at about 210 6–510 6 Torr.

An external high voltage DC or AC power supply is attached to the cathode (target)

which is fabricated of the material which has to be deposited on the sample.

The sample is attached to the anode at some distance from the cathode.
High voltage ignite plasma of the inert gas and the gas ions bombard the target.
The kinetic energy of the bombarding ions is sufficiently high to free some atoms
from the target surface.
Hence, the escaped sputtered atoms deposit on the surface of the sample.

The sputtered techniques yields better uniformity, especially if magnetic field is

introduced into the chamber allowing for better directing atoms toward the anode.

Since this method does not require high temperature of the target, virtually any
material, including organic, can be sputtered.

Moreover, materials from more than one target can be deposited at the same time
(co-sputtering) permitting controlled
 Sputtering..contd

The rate of atoms or molecules lost from the source as a result of evaporation, flux
F, in molecules/unit area/unit time (Equation 3.22), can also be expressed in the
following relationship, derived from kinetic considerations on how the vapor
pressure of the evaporant relates to the evaporation rate:
 Sputtering cont...

• Advantages:
• Wider choice of materials.
• Better adhesion to substrate.
• Complex stoichiometries possible.
• Films can be deposited over large wafer (process can be scaled)
• Sputter yield= #of atoms removed per incident ion
• Deposition rate is proportional to yield for a given plasma energy
• Disadvantages:
• High cost of equipment.
• Substrate heating due to electron (secondary) bombardment.
• Slow deposition rate. (1 atomic layer/sec).
 4.E-beam Evaporation
• Resistance-heating cannot achieve sufficient vapour pressures for
high-melting point materials to achieve reasonable deposition rate
 E-beam Evaporation…contd
• Use an electron beam to provide the necessary heating

• A hot filament emits electrons

by thermionic emission

• The electrons are accelerated to

the source through a potential
difference of several to 15 kV

• The electrons are steered by a

B-field via the Lorentz force to
strike the material to be
evaporated
E-beam Evaporation …contd
 E-beam Evaporation…contd
In the e-beam mode of operation, a high intensity electron
beam gun (3 to 20 keV) is focused on the target material that
is placed in a recess in a water-cooled copper hearth.

As shown in Figure, the electron beam is magnetically

directed onto the evaporant, which melts locally.

In this manner, the metal forms its own crucible, and the
contact with the hearth is too cool for chemical reactions,
resulting in fewer source-contamination problems than in the
case of resistive heating.

E-beam evaporation not only results in higher quality films, it

also provides a higher deposition rate (50–500 nm/min).
E-beam Evaporation…contd

• Advantages :
• Electron K.E. is transferred as heat to the evaporant
causing it to locally melt; this avoids contamination from
the container
• Hot crucibles are not in the line of sight of the substrate

• Disadvantage :
• Energetic electrons and x-ray radiation may damage
some films so sputtering or CVD has replaced e-beams
for some applications (e.g., MOS devices)
Sputtering
[Link] Laser Deposition
Pulsed Laser Deposition…contd
 Pulsed Laser Deposition cont...

• Pulsed laser deposition (PLD) is a physical vapor

deposition (PVD) technique where a high-power
pulsed laser beam is focused inside a vacuum chamber to
strike a target of the material that is to be deposited.
• This material is vaporized from the target (in a plasma
plume) which deposits it as a thin film on a substrate (such
as a silicon wafer facing the target).
• This process can occur in ultra high vacuum or in the
presence of a background gas, such as oxygen which is
commonly used when depositing oxides to fully oxygenate
the deposited films.
 Pulsed Laser Deposition cont...
• While the basic setup is simple relative to many other deposition
techniques, the physical phenomena of laser-target interaction
and film growth are quite complex (see Process below).
• When the laser pulse is absorbed by the target, energy is first
converted to electronic excitation and then into thermal,
chemical and mechanical energy resulting in
evaporation, ablation, plasma formation and even exfoliation.
• The ejected species expand into the surrounding vacuum in the
form of a plume containing many energetic species
including atoms, molecules, electrons, ions, clusters, particulates
and molten globules, before depositing on the typically hot
substrate.
 Pulsed Laser Ablation deposition (PLD)
• Used for high quality thin films,
e.g., superconducting materials such as YBa 2Cu3 O7-y
– Short-wavelength lasers such as the KrF or XeCl excimer laser in a nonequilibrium process.

• Ease of operation and reproducibility.

• Films do not require post-deposition annealing
• Processing variables
– Laser energy,
– Laser pulse repetition rate,
– Substrate temperature
– Oxygen background pressure.
 Advantages of PLD
· Flexible, easy to implement
· Growth in any environment
· Exact transfer of complicated materials (YBCO)
· Variable growth rate
· Epitaxy at low temperature
· Resonant interactions possible (i.e., plasmons in metals,
absorption peaks in dielectrics and semiconductors)
· Atoms arrive in bunches, allowing for much more
controlled deposition
· Greater control of growth (e.g., by varying laser
parameters)
 Disadvantages of PLD
• Uneven coverage
• High defect or particulate concentration
• Not well suited for large-scale film growth
• Mechanisms and dependence on parameters not
well understood
References:

[Link]. Hardik J. Pandya , Sensors and Actuators, Department of Electronic Systems

Engineering, Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru.

[Link] D. Plummer, Michael Deal, Peter D. Griffin, Silicon VLSI Technology

Fundamentals, Practice, and Modeling.

[Link] J. Madou, Fundamentals of Microfabrication and Nanotechnology