INVESTIGATION OF THE PLASMA OF A MAGNETRON DISCHARGE DURING TITANIUM DEPOSITION

In the present work the deposition of titanium layers using a planar-m agnetron sputtering system is performed. To optimize the sputtering pr ocess and to improve the layer quality the plasma has been monitored i n front of the target and near the substrate. The plasma was studied b y means of Langmuir-probe diagnostics and optical emission spectroscop y (OES). The internal plasma parameters (n(e), k(B)T(e)) and the relat ive power dependence of the neutral densities (n(Ti)) at the target as well as at the substrate have been determined as functions of dischar ge power and pressure. It was found that the plasma densities increase with power and pressure and reach a maximum at a certain gas pressure (0.8 Pa) connected with a maximum of the energy influx and a maximum of the mass density of the deposited films.