Chicago Section

Abstract: In this presentation, we will compare different reactive sputtering processes for the deposition of various metal nitride films at room temperature. The first half of this talk will cover how we produce high optical quality silicon nitride films using a low temperature reactive sputtering method that includes a combination of remote radio-frequency inductively coupled plasma (RF-ICP) and substrate biasing. Both the RF-ICP source and the biasing of the substrate create a plasma consisting of low -energy ions and excited atoms of gases, providing films with increased material reactivity without the need of actively heating the substrates. In the second part of the presentation, we will discuss reactive bipolar HiPIMS as an alternative process to obtain dense, stoichiometric titanium nitride (TiN) films with promising superconducting properties at room temperature. The TiN films obtained using this new approach were highly dense, stoichiometric, pure, and demonstrated favorable superconducting properties. The bipolar HiPIMS process is a valid alternative to many reactive nitride processes that typically require high temperatures, biasing, and/or remote plasma assist.

Lemont, IL