Study of the influence of the pressure and rotational motion of 3D substrates processed by magnetron sputtering: A comparative study between Monte Carlo modelling and experiments

Over the last ten years, low pressure plasma solutions for materials surface treatment have been remarkable. Nevertheless, the deposition of films with a uniform thickness on 3D complex shapes is still a challenge for various deposition systems. In several cases, concavities and different substrate orientations and motions lead to macroscopic shadowing and affect the thickness uniformity. The objective of this work is to describe a modelling method able to predict the layer thickness on any surface of 3D substrates in motion and subject to vapour transported in a low pressure vessel. The meshing of objects with Delaunay-triangulation enables the modelling of complex shapes. The deposition process consists of several Monte Carlo simulations involving first the computing of the angular and energy particles distribution from the source, second their transport through the chamber and last the deposition on a meshed substrate. The algorithm is optimised with a “cell-list-linked-like” method and differs from existing models by the computation speed. The benchmarking between simulation and experimental results for Cr, Ag and Ta deposition at various pressures and on moving complex substrates with several shadowed faces is presented. Moreover, particle energy distribution will be discussed for each sample surface, mode and pressure.