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Sputter deposition

About: Sputter deposition is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 49264 publications have been published within this topic receiving 746832 citations. The topic is also known as: sputter coating.


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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the growth process during magnetron sputtering is characterized by the bombardment of the growing film with species from the sputtering target and from the plasma, in addition to sputtered atoms with energies in the eV range.
Abstract: Magnetron sputtering of transparent conductive oxides (zinc oxide, indium tin oxide, tin oxide) is a promising technique which allows the deposition of films at low temperatures with good optical and electronic properties. A special advantage is the scalability to large areas. The principles underlying magnetron sputtering are reviewed in this paper. The growth process during magnetron sputtering is characterized by the bombardment of the growing film with species from the sputtering target and from the plasma. In addition to sputtered atoms with energies in the eV range, ions from the plasma (mostly argon) and neutral atoms (also argon) reflected at the target hit the growing film. Depending on the energy of these species and on the ion-to-neutral ratio the properties of the films vary. High energies ( 100 eV), which occur mainly at low sputtering pressures lead to damage of the growing film, connected with mechanical stress, small crystallites and bad electrical parameters. Ion assisted growth with low ion energies (below about 50 eV) is advantageous as is a high ion-to-neutral ratio. A compilation of resistivities of magnetron sputtered zinc oxide films yields a limiting resistivity of 2 × 10-4 cm for polycrystalline films. Based on the correlation between plasma parameters and film properties new research fields are anticipated.

554 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the electron beam assisted evaporation technique is analyzed along with other methods operating at oblique angles, including, among others, magnetron sputtering and pulsed laser or ion beam-assisted deposition techniques.

537 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, high transparent conductive, aluminum-doped zinc oxide (ZnO:Al) films with surface work functions between 3.7 and 4.4 eV were obtained by varying the sputtering conditions.
Abstract: Highly transparent conductive, aluminum-doped zinc oxide (ZnO:Al) films were deposited on glass substrates by midfrequency magnetron sputtering of metallic aluminum-doped zinc target. ZnO:Al films with surface work functions between 3.7 and 4.4 eV were obtained by varying the sputtering conditions. Organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) were fabricated on these ZnO:Al films. A current efficiency of higher than 3.7 cd/A, was achieved. For comparison, 3.9 cd/A was achieved by the reference OLEDs fabricated on commercial indium–tin–oxide substrates.

529 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, a new technique of the simultaneous excitation of a magnetron sputtering discharge by rf and dc was used for the deposition of undoped ZnO-and Al-doped znO (ZnO:Al) films.
Abstract: A new technique of the simultaneous excitation of a magnetron sputtering discharge by rf and dc was used for the deposition of undoped ZnO- and Al-doped ZnO (ZnO:Al) films. By this technique, it was possible to change the ion-to-neutral ratio ji/jn on the substrates during the film growth by more than a factor of ten, which was revealed by plasma monitor and Langmuir probe measurements. While for a pure dc discharge the ions impinging onto a floating substrate have energies of about Ei≈17 eV, the rf discharge is characterized by Ar-ion energies of about 35 eV. Furthermore, the ion current density for the rf excitation is higher by a factor of about five, which is caused by the higher plasma density in front of the substrate. This leads to a much higher ion-to-neutral ratio ji/jn on the growing film in the case of the rf discharge, which strongly influences the structural and electrical properties of the ZnO(:Al) films. The rf-grown films exhibit about the three times lower specific resistances (ρ≈6×10−4 Ω...

513 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the influence of the amount of alumina in the target as well as the substrate temperature during sputter deposition has been investigated, leading to different conductivity and free carrier absorption in the near infrared.
Abstract: This study addresses the material properties of magnetron-sputtered aluminum-doped zinc oxide (ZnO:Al) films and their application as front contacts in silicon thin-film solar cells. Optimized films exhibit high conductivity and transparency, as well as a surface topography with adapted light-scattering properties to induce efficient light trapping in silicon thin-film solar cells. We investigated the influence on the ZnO:Al properties of the amount of alumina in the target as well as the substrate temperature during sputter deposition. The alumina content in the target influences the carrier concentration leading to different conductivity and free carrier absorption in the near infrared. Additionally, a distinct influence on the film growth of the ZnO:Al layer was found. The latter affects the surface topography which develops during wet-chemical etching in diluted hydrochloric acid. Depending on alumina content in the target and heater temperature, three different regimes of etching behavior have been i...

511 citations


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Performance
Metrics
No. of papers in the topic in previous years
YearPapers
2023770
20221,531
20211,276
20201,596
20191,941
20181,917