Pulsed plasmas for reactive deposition of ITO layers

Sputtering is a major technol. for thin film prodn. Recently, new pulse techniques such as pulsed d.c. (DC) sputtering have been introduced to large area coating by sputter deposition. Pulse package sputtering is currently under investigation. This new technol. seems to be a promising tool for users, who feel the need to tune the energy of sputtered particles in order to obtain certain film properties. In our expts., we investigate how pulse parameters such as on- and off-times or the no. of pulses per pulse package affect the kinetics of sputter deposition. We use Monte-Carlo simulations and exptl. data in order to det. the energy of several species impinging on the substrate. The suggested method of calcn. can be applied to arbitrary pulse forms. We give examples for several pulse packages. It follows that short pulse packages tend to reduce the kinetic energy of neutral particles deposited on the substrate.