High rate reactive deposition of TiO2 films using two sputtering sources

We propose a new high-rate reactive sputter-deposition method with two sputtering sources for fabricating TiO₂ films. One source operates in a metal mode sputtering condition and supplies titanium atoms to the substrate. The other source operates in oxide mode and works as an oxygen radical source for supplying oxygen radicals to the substrate surface for promoting oxidization of titanium atoms. Each sputtering source is separated with a mesh grid from the deposition chamber, and Ar and oxygen gas are introduced separately through the titanium supply and oxygen radical sources, respectively. By using this reactive sputtering system, a deposition rate above 80 nm/min can be obtained for the deposition of TiO₂ films with rutile structure.