Structure zone models Thornton

Figure 6.3. Structure zone model (a) Movchan and Demchishin model [9] and (b) Thornton model Till...

Fig.8. 2D Thornton s structural zone model extended into region of low-pressure sputtering. Here, Ts and T are the substrate temperature and the melting temperature of film material, respectively [23].

Figure 10.7 Structure Zone Model (SZM) of Sputter-deposited Materials. Adapted from Thornton (1977)1 ...

Structure zone model (SZM) (film formation) A diagram showing the morphology of a deposited film as a function of some deposition parameter. Examples Temperature for vacuum evaporation gas pressure and temperature for sputter deposition. See also Movchin-Demchishin diagram Thornton diagram. 

Fig. 8.18. Modified Thornton-model for RF sputtered ZnO Al films according to Kluth et al. [96] Structural properties and etching behavior as function of deposition pressure and substrate temperature Ts. The SEM micrographs show cross-sections and the surface in the as-deposited state (left) and after etching in hydrochloric acid (right). The matrix of substrate temperature and deposition pressure contains structure zones according to the Thornton model [120,121]. Reprinted with permission from [96]...

Fig. 1.21. Structure evolution in polycrystaUine films as a function of substrate temperature and argon gas pressure, following the four-zone model of Thornton (1977).

The microstructure and morphology of thick single phase films have been extensively studied for a wide variety of metals, alloys and refractory compounds. The structural model was first proposed by Movchan and Demchishin Figure 14 was subsequently modified by Thornton (Figure 15). Movchan and Demchishin s diagram was arrived at from their studies on deposits of pure metals and did not include the transition zone of Thornton s model. Zone T. This is not prominent in pure metals or single phase alloy deposits but becomes quite pronounced in deposits of refractory compounds or complex alloys produced by evaporation and in all types of deposits produced in the presence of partial pressure of inert or reactive gas, as in sputtering or ARE type processes. 

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