Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-rdxmf Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-25T15:39:30.138Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Preferential Sputtering Effects in Elemental Depth Profiling of Tellurium-Based Alloy Thin Films

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 February 2011

R. C. Ross
Affiliation:
Energy Conversion Devices, Inc., 1675 West Maple Road, Troy, Michigan 48084
G. L. Jones
Affiliation:
Energy Conversion Devices, Inc., 1675 West Maple Road, Troy, Michigan 48084
S. S. Chao
Affiliation:
Energy Conversion Devices, Inc., 1675 West Maple Road, Troy, Michigan 48084
J. P. deNeufville
Affiliation:
Energy Conversion Devices, Inc., 1675 West Maple Road, Troy, Michigan 48084
E. J. Bjornard
Affiliation:
Energy Conversion Devices, Inc., 1675 West Maple Road, Troy, Michigan 48084
J. E. Tyler
Affiliation:
Energy Conversion Devices, Inc., 1675 West Maple Road, Troy, Michigan 48084
Get access

Abstract

The compositions of sputtered amorphous thin films of Se50Te50, Ge50Te50, and (Te90Ge5 In5)100-x 0 x=0-25 have been measured by electron microprobe x-ray analyzer (EMP) and Auger electron spectroscopy (AES) with sputter depth profiling. Preferential removal of certain elements from the surface region during sputtering is shown to significantly alter the AES-determined surface composition. The effects of sputtering ion mass (He1, Ar1, Xe1), Ar+ energy (1.5 and 4.0 keV), and target temperature (-100 and 25°C) were investigated. The degree of preferential sputtering is found to be controlled predominantly by differences in surface binding energy of the elements with secondary contributions in the case of 0 due to bombarding atom to target atom collisional energy transfer processes.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 1986

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1. Lou, D.Y. and Blom, G.M., J. Appl. Phys., 54, 6637 (1983).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
2. Ovshinsky, S.R., U.S. Patent No. 3,530,441 (22 September, 1970).Google Scholar
3. Bell, A.E. and Spong, F.W., Appl. Phys. Lett., 38, 920 (1981).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
4. Takenaga, M., Yamada, N., Ohara, S., Nishiuchi, K., Nagashima, M., Kashihara, T., Nakamura, S. and Yamashita, T., “New Optical Erasable Medium Using Tellurium Suboxide Thin Film”, in Optical Storage Media, Bell, Allen E., Jamberdino, Albert A., Editors, Proc. SPIE 420, 173 (1983).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
5. Betz, Gerhard and Wehner, Gottfried K. in Sputtering by Particle Bombardment II, edited by Behrisch, R. (Springer-Verlag, 1983), Chapter 2, pp. 1190.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
6. Davis, L.E., McDonald, N.C., Palmberg, P.W., Riach, G.E., and Weber, R.E., Handbook of Auger Electron Spectroscopy (Physical Electronics Industries, Eden Prairie, NM, 1976).Google Scholar
7. Andersen, H.H., J. Vac. Sci. Technol., 16, 770 (1979).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
8. Roth, J., Bohdansky, J., Martinelli, A.P., Radiat. Eff., 48, 213 (1980).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
9. Benninghoven, A., Z. Angew. Phys., 27, 51 (1969).Google Scholar