The role of sputtered atom and ion energy distribution in films deposited by Physical Vapor Deposition: A molecular dynamics approach

TL;DR

This study uses molecular dynamics simulations to compare copper film growth across various physical vapor deposition techniques, highlighting how ion energy distributions influence film quality and substrate erosion.

Contribution

It introduces a comparative simulation framework incorporating experimentally determined energy distributions to analyze different PVD methods.

Findings

Bipolar +180 V HiPIMS with 10% Cu+ ions yields the best film crystallinity.

Bipolar HiPIMS can improve film structure but increases substrate erosion.

Significant differences in film quality and erosion are observed among PVD techniques.

Abstract

We present a comparative study of copper film growth with a constant energy neutral beam, thermal evaporation, dc magnetron sputtering, high-power impulse magnetron sputtering (HiP-IMS), and bipolar HiPIMS, through molecular dynamics simulations. Experimentally determined energy distribution functions were utilized to model the deposition processes. Our results indicate significant differences in the film quality, growth rate, and substrate erosion between the various physical vapor deposition techniques. Bipolar HiPIMS shows the potential for improved film structure under certain conditions, albeit with increased substrate erosion. Bipolar +180 V HiPIMS with 10% Cu + ions exhibited the best film properties in terms of crystallinity and atomic stress among the PVD processes investigated.