Effect of a r.f. antenna on carbon nitride films deposited by ionized r.f. magnetron sputtering

This work deals with the study of an original physical vapor deposition process, called ionized magnetron sputtering applied to carbon nitride films. The magnetron discharge is coupled to an inductively induced radio-frequency one generated by a coil (antenna) placed between the target and the substrate. The high density plasma generated by the antenna, allows an increase of the ion bombardment of the film growing surface which can greatly modify the properties of the deposited films. In order to investigate the variation of the film composition, induced by the antenna, a systematic characterization by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy is performed vs. the substrate bias, the antenna to target r.f. power ratio and the discharge gas pressure. Optical emission spectroscopy has been used to characterize the plasma. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.