INSITU INVESTIGATION OF SPUTTER-DEPOSITED THIN-FILMS BY ION SPUTTERING SPECTROMETRY

Low energy ion scattering spectrometry (ISS) was used to investigate thin films deposited by a sputtering process. Thin film deposited onto an aluminum substrate by Ar+ ion sputtering of an AISI 304 stainless steel target was investigated in situ with alkali ions scattered from the deposited film during the process. Cobalt metal was used as a standard to calibrate the mass position of the IS spectrum by Li+ ion scattering with different energies. Auger electron spectroscopy and depth profiling of the deposited films were carried out to compare with the ISS results. The sputtering rate was determined by measuring the thickness of the deposited film with an ellipsometer and was checked by depth profiling of the film. The ISS results show that as the deposited film reached an average thickness of 4.0 nm, only the iron peak of the major constituents of the stainless steel and the aluminum peak of the substrate were present in the IS spectrum. As the thickness approached 8.0 nm, the IS spectrum showed peaks of all constituents of the stainless steel without the aluminum peak.