Gas pressure distribution in ion plasma deposition system

A method to determine the working gas pressure in the region of sputtered target during ion-plasma deposition of thin films is proposed. Using the sputtering monatomic targets of Ti and Nb, calculated (Monte Carlo simulation) and experimental dependences of their deposition rate on the working gas pressure are obtained. Comparison of these results made it possible to determine the pressure distribution in the region of drift of sputtered target–substrate atoms. A radical difference is shown between the pressure sensor in chamber (0.6 Pa) and the real corrected pressure from 5 Pa in the target sputtering zone to 1 Pa in the deposition zone on the substrate.