Getter-Bias Sputtering of High Purity Metal Films in a High Current Vacuum Discharge in the 10-4 Torr Range

It is shown that by using a Titanium getter high purity and uniformly thick refractory metal films could be deposited at a very fast rate by a high current vacuum discharge in the 10-4 Torr range. The system described is based on Gaydou's technique. Various discharge characteristics have been studied and the film purity has been estimated by calculating the specific resistivities of the films before and after artificial aging. The lowest specific resistivitv of Tantalum film deposited with a getter and a 100 V negative bias is 19.6 µ\varOmega-cm. Adhesivity and possible applications of Tantalum films in thin film hybrid technology have also been studied.