Deposition of copper oxide by reactive magnetron sputtering

Copper oxide films have been deposited on silicon substrates by direct current magnetron sputtering of Cu in O2 / Ar gas mixtures. The target oxidation occurring as a result of either adsorption or ion-plating of reactive gases to the target has a direct effect on the discharge current and the resulting composition of the deposited films. The kinetic model which relates the target oxidation to the discharge current was proposed, showing the one-to-one relationship between discharge current characteristics and film stoichiometry of the deposited films.