Ion beam sputtering of Ag – Angular and energetic distributions of sputtered and scattered particles

Ion beam sputter deposition (IBD) provides intrinsic features which influence the properties of the growing film, because ion properties and geometrical process conditions generate different energy and spatial distribution of the sputtered and scattered particles. A vacuum deposition chamber is set up to measure the energy and spatial distribution of secondary particles produced by ion beam sputtering of different target materials under variation of geometrical parameters (incidence angle of primary ions and emission angle of secondary particles) and of primary ion beam parameters (ion species and energies).A representative set of Ag thin films is deposited arranged on a substrate holder equatorial to the Ag target in steps of 10° and characterized concerning their film thickness by profilometry to determine the angular distribution of the sputtered particles. The film thickness distributions show a tilted, cosine-like shape and a shifting of the maximum position depending on the primary particle energy and incidence angle of the primary ions.The energy distributions of sputtered and scattered ions and of sputtered neutrals are measured with an energy-selective mass spectrometer. The average energy of the sputtered ions increases with increasing emission angle and also increases with increasing incidence angle of the primary ions. In contrast, the average energy of the sputtered ions is nearly unaffected by the primary particle energy and particle species. The energy distribution of the scattered Ar ions reveals high energetic maxima which shift with increasing emission angle to higher energies. These maxima are not observed for Xe bombardment. The total energies of sputtered and scattered ions show significant differences between the two bombarding species. The maximum of the energy distribution of sputtered Ag neutrals is used to conclude on the surface binding energy of Ag (2.72 eV).All experimental data are compared with Monte Carlo simulations done with the well-known TRIM.SP.