Abstract
Tracks of sputtered atoms from the target to the substrate are investigated based on deposition patterns, filling of very small holes with high aspect ratio, change of deposition rate with the distance between electrodes and effects of sputtering gas pressure and discharge current intensity. As a results, sputtered atom tracks in the case of high-vacuum sputtering are estimated to be the same as those of the ring source in the case of thermal evaporation. Sputtered atom tracks in the case of conventional sputtering are disturbed by residual argon atoms comparing with that of the high-vacuum sputtering. In the case of self-sputtering, sputtered atoms forming a high density cloud collide with each other, promoting their movement in the same direction, similarly to that of a beam, and leading to very good bottom coverage.
