The practical use and application of Monte-Carlo studies in physical vapour deposition technology

Most of the theory of physical vapour deposition processes has been well researched. There has, however, been little attempt to exploit the theoretical results of this research for practical development of these technologies. This paper develops a computer model for the magnetron sputter ion plating process, in which known physical laws are combined with geometry models of the kind used in computer-aided design technology. The model enables deposition rates and incidence angle distributions to be described for any desired substrate geometry and configuration, taking into account the dominant process parameters. Deposition rates and incidence angle distributions are computed for various film materials and process parameters and are compared with measured values, indicating excellent agreement. A final example shows the dependence of film thickness distribution at the bottom of a slot on a notched component on the geometrical nature of the workpiece itself and on its positioning in the process space. (orig.)