Plasma diagnostical comparison of the MSIP process of (Ti,Al)N with pulsed and dc power supplies using energy-resolved mass spectroscopy

Plasma diagnostics by energy-resolved mass spectroscopy is a well-known method to understand and control rf plasmas, e.g. during plasma etching, and PECVD processes. Only very few scientific work concentrates on the investigation of the magnetron sputter ion plating (MSIP) process. This is the reason why, so far, this process is not very well understood. A technology that has been gaining increasing importance within the last decade is the use of pulsed power supplies. On the one hand, this technology allows the sputtering of insulating coatings with a significantly higher sputtering rate than with rf plasma. On the other hand, the degree of ionization is higher than in dc processes. In this article, the ion energy distribution of aluminum and titanium as well as titanium nitride is observed by using a pulsed cathode power supply and a dc power supply. The different behavior of the ion energy distributions depending on the power supplies is shown. The cathode power and the nitrogen flow are the observed varying process parameters.