Suppression of deposition rate variations and of structural changes in thecharacteristics of magnetic films deposited by magnetically controlled magnetron sputtering

This article describes the effect of the target magnetic field on the plasm a process and the physical properties of films deposited by magnetically co ntrolled rf and dc planar magnetron sputtering techniques. The target magne tic field, which is parallel to the target surface, is controlled and its' strength is a key parameter in controlling the deposition rate in both rf a nd dc magnetron sputtering. Based on this technique, we propose a way of su ppressing variations in a magnetic film's deposition rate and suppressing c hanges in its structural characteristics during rf magnetron sputtering. Fo r dc magnetron sputtering, we clarified the mechanism that automatically st abilizes the deposition rate even if the target magnetic field is changed. We also clarified that controlling the target magnetic field (controlling t he self-bias voltage) is very important for controlling the physical proper ties of sputter-deposited films in both rf and dc magnetron sputtering. (C) 2000 American Institute of Physics. [S0021-8979(00)00502-8].