Liner conformality in ionized magnetron sputter metal deposition processes

The conformality of thin metal films (liners) formed on high-aspect-ratio trench structures in ionized magnetron sputter deposition processes is studied numerically and experimentally. The numerical simulator (SHADE) used to predict the surface topography is based on the shock-tracking method for surface evolution. The simulation results are in good agreement with experimentally observed thin-film topography. It is shown that combination of direct deposition and trench-bottom resputtering results in good conformality of step coverages and the amount of the resputtering needed for the good conformality is almost independent of trench aspect ratios. © 1996 American Vacuum Society.