ON THE CAUSES AND EFFECTS OF CONTAMINATIONS DURING RF DIODE DEPOSITION OF CR-SI ALLOYS

Investigations to the causes and effects of contaminants at the rf dio de deposition of CrSi films in a non-heated high vacuum apparatus were carried out comparing an oxygen-free fusion target with an oxygen-con taining cermet target. The films of the fusion target contained consid erable amounts of oxygen; analogously the oxygen concentration in the films was increased in the case of the cermet target. Moreover, hydrog en was found. The concentration of the contaminants decreased with the sputtering power, however the rate of incorporation increased. For hi gh sputtering rates the contamination process was reproducible and ind ependent of the plant conditioning; the deposited films were depth-hom ogeneous. The reasons for this behaviour lie in water sources which ar e activated first of all by the discharge itself. The electrical prope rties found are explained by the contaminants and the deposition condi tions.