The effect of energetic oxygen atoms on the formation of CuO films by magnetron sputtering

The chemical composition of thin copper oxide films was studied by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The films were obtained by magnetron sputtering of copper metal, which was simultaneously oxidized by atomic oxygen. It was demonstrated that a high rate of oxidation in molecular oxygen is achieved only under relatively low rates of film growth (v<100 Å/min). However, the growth rate of cupric oxide can be drastically increased to v>750 Å/min in a flow of accelerated oxygen atoms. High growth rates are necessary to substantially cut the thermal budget and reduce the diffuseness of heterofunctions in fabricating layered structures containing copper oxide.