Argon-oxygen interaction in rf sputtering glow discharges

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Abstract
Optical emission spectroscopy was used to study the behavior of the excited states of argon and oxygen atoms which occur in glow discharges generated during the rf diode sputtering of a zinc oxide target. The results indicate that there is an interaction between the two gases when the sputtering gas contains less than approximately 15% oxygen. A quasi-resonant transfer of excitation from a metastable argon atom to an excited, repulsive, neutral state of the oxygen molecule, which subsequently dissociates, is proposed as the interaction mechanism. Correlation with mass spectrometry data indicates that the dissociation products increase the relative rate of zinc oxide production at the target surface and therefore promote single (0001) crystallographic orientation zinc oxide film growth.