Recent experience in the deposition of thick quartz films by rf magnetron sputtering

Recent results demonstrating control of the step coverage profile by means of rf bias during rf magnetron deposition of thick quartz films are reported. The source and substrate power supplies are driven by a common oscillator, which permits the relative phase between source and substrate to be controlled. This adjustment has a profound influence upon the power required on the substrate table for a fixed bias. It is found that step coverage profile is primarily a function of substrate bias and only weakly dependent on substrate power.