EFFECTS OF GAS RING POSITION AND MESH INTRODUCTION ON FILM QUALITY AND THICKNESS UNIFORMITY

Chromium oxide films were deposited using DC reactive magnetron sputte ring system with different gas ring positions. It was found that the f ilm quality was improved, while film thickness deviation over 2'' area of silica wafer increased, as the distance between the target and the gas ring increased. To improve both the film quality and the thicknes s uniformity, a method of mesh insertion was tried and verified to mee t the purpose. Introduction of mesh produced stable plasma and resulte d in more uniform and smooth planar film without any contamination fro m the mesh. These phenomena were explained in terms of gettering and s cattering effects of the mesh. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science S.A.