On glow-discharge sputtering of iron and steels in a commercial depositionplant

The sputtering rates of iron films and various steels exposed to argon-hydr ogen pulsed-DC glow discharges in a commercial plasma-assisted chemical vap our deposition plant have been studied experimentally. The sputtering rate of iron was obtained from measurements of the film thickness before and aft er glow-discharge exposure, using Rutherford backscattering spectrometry, a nd the sputtering rates of the steels were obtained from shifts of position s of implanted Xe markers in Rutherford backscattering spectra. Through ano de-catcher experiments, the dependence of the sputtering rate on the oxygen partial pressure was measured. To investigate any influence of the backgro und oxygen pressure on the plasma (the cathode ion bombardment), energy spe ctra of the ions hitting the cathode were also recorded. With finite oxygen background pressures, iron sputtering rates much smaller than the ones cor responding to sputtering yields of iron oxides were measured. In fact, due to these low rates, it was only possible to establish upper limits to the i ron and steel sputtering rates in glow discharges in the commercial chamber . (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.