Deposition (CVD and PVD)

Which model organizes, by temperature and gas pressure, the tendency of sputtered metal films to form columnar grains with many voids at low deposition temperatures?

  1. AThornton's structure zone model
  2. BThe Poisson model
  3. CThe Deal-Grove model
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Answer: A. Thornton's structure zone model

Thornton's structure zone model organizes how film microstructure changes with substrate temperature (relative to the material's melting point) and sputtering gas pressure, from porous columnar structure to dense fibrous structure, large columnar grains and recrystallized equiaxed grains. It serves as a guide to film density, stress and resistivity.

  • A. Correct. It organizes film structure by temperature and gas pressure.
  • B. The Poisson model is used for yield calculations and similar.
  • C. The Deal-Grove model describes thermal oxide growth.
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More Deposition (CVD and PVD) questions

  1. In CVD, what is the phenomenon called in which more source gas is consumed and the deposition rate drops as the area of wafers or patterns being coated increases?
  2. In reactive sputtering, what is the phenomenon called in which, with too much reactive gas flow, the target surface becomes covered with a compound and the deposition rate drops sharply?
  3. Which method is used to tune the stress of plasma CVD silicon nitride from compressive to tensile?
  4. Into which category does deposition by sputtering fall?
  5. Which is a characteristic of ALD (atomic layer deposition)?