Sputter deposition reactive

For this reason, the dissolution of hydrous oxides does not require a high energy of activation. If hydrous oxides are dehydrated, they become dry oxides, which therefore acquire higher resistance to anodic dissolution. The most straightforward way to obtain dry oxides is to subject hydrous oxides to thermal treatments or better to prepare them as thin surface films by a non-electrochemical technique (thermal decomposition, chemical vapor deposition, reactive sputtering, etc.). 

Titanium nitride is the material of choice for the coating of high-speed steel cutting tools. It is usually applied by physical vapor deposition (reactive sputtering or evaporation by electron-beam heating). These processes are preferred over CVD since the deposition temperature is below the autenitizing temperature of the steel and the tool is not dimensionally distorted. 

The requirements of thin-film ferroelectrics are stoichiometry, phase formation, crystallization, and microstmctural development for the various device appHcations. As of this writing multimagnetron sputtering (MMS) (56), multiion beam-reactive sputter (MIBERS) deposition (57), uv-excimer laser ablation (58), and electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) plasma-assisted growth (59) are the latest ferroelectric thin-film growth processes to satisfy the requirements. 

By reactive sputtering, many complex compounds can be formed from relatively easy-to-fabricate metal targets, insulating compounds can be deposited using a d-c power supply, and graded compositions can be formed, as described. The process, however, is compHcated. 

Thermal CVD, reviewed above, relies on thermal energy to activate the reaction, and deposition temperatures are usually high. In plasma CVD, also known as plasma-enhanced CVD (PECV) or plasma-assisted CVD (PACVD), the reaction is activated by a plasma and the deposition temperature is substantially lower. Plasma CVD combines a chemical and a physical process and may be said to bridge the gap between CVD andPVD. In this respect, itis similar to PVD processes operating in a chemical environment, such as reactive sputtering (see Appendix). 

Like reactive evaporation, reactive sputtering is used in the deposition of refractory compounds by providing a small partial pressure of hydrocarbons, nitrogen, or oxygen. A problem is target poisoning caused by the reaction of the target with the reactive gas. 

Coatings of refractory compounds can be deposited reactively in a manner similar to reactive evaporation and sputtering by spraying the pure metal in an atmosphere of either a hydrocarbon or nitrogen. 

Up to the present, a number of conventional film preparation methods like PVD, CVD, electro-chemical deposition, etc., have been reported to be used in synthesis of CNx films. Muhl et al. [57] reviewed the works performed worldwide, before the year 1998, on the methods and results of preparing carbon nitride hlms. They divided the preparation techniques into several sections including atmospheric-pressure chemical processes, ion-beam deposition, laser techniques, chemical vapor deposition, and reactive sputtering [57]. The methods used in succeeding research work basically did not... 

The photoelectrochemical behavior of a given photoanode is dependent on its method of synthesis. Various methods, some of which we now briefly consider, such as anodic oxidation, spray pyrolysis, reactive sputtering and vapor deposition are commonly employed to make polycrystalline thin films. 

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