An electron cyclotron resonance plasma deposition technique employing magnetron mode sputtering

Magnetron mode sputtering was applied to an electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) plasma deposition technique as a material supply at low gas pressures of 10−2 Pa. Fully reacted metallic‐compound films were deposited at low temperatures with much higher rates than those obtained in conventional reactive sputtering: 800 Å/min for Al2O3 film and 1000 Å/min for Ta2O5 film with uniformity of ±5% within an area of 10 cm in diameter. These results were used to develop an automated system. The superior deposition characteristics are due to the high‐rate sputtering of the metallic target surface in reactive gas, and to the features of the film formation reaction enhanced in the ECR plasma deposition technique.