Pulse-sputter deposition of highly 〈100〉-oriented crystalline silicon films

Abstract Energetic particle bombardment of a growing film is an inherent process in sputtering deposition. We investigated Si films deposited by pulsed-DC magnetron sputtering. Under certain conditions, strong preferential 〈100〉 grain growth can be obtained. We performed time-resolved plasma characterisation and analysed the Ar content of the films. From these results we argue that both reflected high-energy Ar neutrals from the target and positively charged ions (Ar + , Si + ) of low energy may be responsible for promoting this effect.