Modeling and simulation of the magnetron sputtering process for Al2O3 thin film coating

Abstract

Al2O3 used for manufacturing the catalytic converters is applied as a component of porous ceramal or in the form of films. It could be produced by reactive DC magnetron sputtering from metallic targets or directly from oxide targets. The aim of this paper is the simulation to determine the suitable conditions to sputter Al2O3 thin film from Al with our home-made equipment system. The simulation based on the Monte Carlo method and the initial parameters including the geometric parameters. The calculation is executed in the Matlab platform both in the command line and the graphic user interface regim for the illustration. The results of this work included (a) the initial energetic and angular distributions of sputtered atoms, (b) the transport process of sputtered particles, (c) the spatial, energetic and angular distribution of sputtered atoms at the substrate, (d) the sputtered atom deposition including the diffusions. These results have been compared to those of the other authors and to the results of experimental investigations for the accomplishment.