Computer simulation of gas rarefaction effects and ®lm deposition characteristics in a magnetron sputtering apparatus

Ar gas is known to be rare®ed in front of a magnetron sputtering cathode due to the collisional heating by energetic sputtered atoms. The effects of the Ar rarefaction in a magnetron sputtering apparatus used for Ti-®lm deposition were investigated using the direct simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) method which is capable of taking gas rarefaction effects into account. The calculated ®lm deposition rate on a substrate and the ®lm coverage in a small hole were larger than those calculated by the conventional simulation where the gas rarefaction is not included. This shows that the gas rarefaction improves both the ®lm deposition rate and the ®lm coverage. # 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.