Cuprous Oxide Cu2O films were deposited by reactive DC magnetron sputtering. The substrate temperature and oxygen partial pressure were found to be important parameters in controlling the film property. The single-phase Cu2O films were successfully obtained by carefully controlling the oxygen partial pressure with suppression of CuO formation. The (100)-oriented epitaxial Cu2O film was grown on the (102) surface of single-crystal Al2O3. The fundamental absorption edge of the Cu2O film was determined to be about 2 eV by photo-transmission measurement. The resistivity of the film was of the order of 105 Ωcm.

Electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) plasma oxidation of AlN thin films was studied to form the AlON high-κ gate insulator. The leakage current was found to be decreased, and also the surface roughness was improved with the ECR plasma oxidation of AlN thin films. The leakage current was further decreased after 1000 RTA in N2 with little increase of equivalent oxide thickness (EOT) because of the high quality interfacial layer formation.

A reactive sputtering method using an Electron-Cyclotron-Resonance (ECR) microwave plasma was used to deposit Ni-Zn ferrite thin-films for a soft magnetic backlayer of Co-containing spinel ferrite thin-film perpendicular magnetic recording (PMR) media. The Ni-Zn spinel ferrite thin-films with a preferential orientation of (100) and a relatively low coercivity of 15 Oe were obtained at a high deposition rate of 14 nm/min and at a temperature below 200 degrees C. Although post-annealing treatment in air at 200 degrees C was effective to decrease the coercivity of the Ni-Zn ferrite thin-films, the saturation magnetization and initial permeability decreased and the surface smoothness was deteriorated simultaneously. The Ni-Zn ferrite thin-films prepared by ECR sputtering are promising as the backlayer of the perpendicular magnetic recording medium, but further improvement is required in terms of the soft magnetic properties, the grain size and the surface roughness.

Co-containing ferrite thin-film media deposited by a reactive-ECR-sputtering at a low substrate temperature of 150 degree Celsius were oxidized by ECR plasma. The magnetic properties and recording characteristics of the media were improved by the oxidation with maintaining a smooth surface. The media showed high D50 of 203 kFRPI in MIG head recording and reproduction. The Co-containing ferrite thin-film is feasible to be used as a protective overcoat layer.

Carbon-gold (C-Au) film was formed by co-operation process of plasma CVD and sputtering with using methane and Ar mixture gas and gold plate discharge electrode. Refractive index of 3.1 for the film was obtained at Au atom content of 5.5 atomic%. The optical transmittance was improved significantly in the visible light wavelength range compared to the C-S-Au film reported previously. Au atom distribution in the C-Au film and the electronic polarizabilities were discussed in the relation to the refractive index.

By depositing insulating layers on oxide superconducting films, the films generally deteriorate. When an insulating multilayer of CeO2(50 )SrTiO3(200 ) was grown on 800--thick EuBa2Cu3O 7-δ (EBCO) films with Tce's (Tc endpoint) above 90 K, the films exhibited Tce's of about 40 K. Recovery of the deteriorated films was carried out by two treatment methods. A pure oxygen treatment, where the deteriorated films were annealed at a temperature (Tsa) of 550C and an oxygen pressure (PO2) of 100 kPa for 60 min, and then naturally cooled, restored the films with Tce's of about 60 K. An activated oxygen plasma (AOP) treatment, where the deteriorated films were exposed to oxygen plasma at a Tsa=550C for 40 min and subsequently oxygen gas was introduced into the chamber up to 2 kPa and then naturally cooled, restored the films with Tce's of about 84 K. The AOP-treated film was recovered with a cooling rate of less than 6.8C/min, and exhibited Tce of 90 K. The AOP-treated film took in oxygen more effectively than the pure oxygen-treated film with the cooling process at less than PO2=100 kPa.

Reactive sputtering of a metallic target in DC planar magnetron discharge shows a drastic mode transition between metallic and oxide modes. To describe the experimental results quantitatively, a new reactive sputtering model including the secondary electron emission coefficient of a target has been developed. The model is based on a simple reactive gas balance model proposed by Berg et al., and can quantitatively describe experimental results such as the oxygen flow rate dependence of deposition rate and discharge, observed for MgO sputter-deposition.

Employing reactive sputtering using an electron-cyclotron-resonance microwave plasma without oxidation process, high coercivity ferrite thin-films with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy were successfully prepared without NiO underlayer at low substrate temperature. The ferrite thin-film deposited on glass substrate had smooth surface and were composed of small grains. Perpendicular recording was performed on the ferrite thin-film hard disk. The ferrite thin-films with high coercivity could be prepared on flexible film substrates (Polyimide and PET).

The chemical stability of the constituent elements in polycrystalline Sr-Bi-Ta-O thin film with various Bi content prepared by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) was investigated by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Moreover, that of the epitaxial films was also investigated to estimate the effect of the grain boundary in polycrystalline films. Therefore, only the Bi element drastically changed from Bi3+ state to Bi0 one by the Ar sputtering. This change increased with increasing the Ta/Bi mole ratio in the film from 0.64 to 1.67. This result was observed not only for the polycrystalline films but also for the epitaxial films, suggesting that this is the grain character not grain boundary one. The stability and the leakage character of the film strongly depend on the constituent of the film.

A 2-step deposition technique was introduced in the heteroepitaxial growth of barium titanate (BaTiO3) thin films. Heteroepitaxial BaTiO3 films were prepared on a SrRuO3/SrTiO3 substrate by radio frequency (RF) magnetron sputtering with three kinds of deposition method: low RF-power deposition, 2-step deposition, and high power deposition. The crystallographic and ferroelectric properties were evaluated for the heteroepitaxial films. When the epitaxial capacitor was prepared by the 2-step deposition technique, the ferroelectric remanent polarization, 2Pr, was maximized. The optimized deposition condition to improve the crystal quality is discussed in terms of damage and diffusion, which could be introduced into the oxide films during the epitaxial growth, and controlled by the RF-power and deposition time, respectively.

We report a directly deposited dielectric multilayer onto an end face of a fluorinated polyimide optical waveguide by ion beam sputtering process. This dielectric multilayer (Ta2O5/SiO2) acts on a wavelength separation filter which passes 1310 nm wavelength signal and reflects 1550 nm wavelength signal.

We investigated the relationship between the film characteristics and the sputtering rate of the MgO protecting layer in AC-PDP. As possible elements for determining the sputtering rate, we considered the density, orientation, and surface morphology. With respect to the orientation, we found that the sputtering rate increased for the sequence of (200) < (220) < (111). However, we noticed that orientation and surface structure are not really decisive factors affecting the sputtering rate; the density of the film is most important.

We developed a glass ferrule fiber optic connector. During development, we also studied wear-resistant coating technology for preventing scratches on the surface of a glass ferrule. The method of coating was sputtering, and the material was alumina. We confirmed that a thin uniform coating could be formed on the ferrule surface to improve the durability of glass ferrule connectors.

Ba ferrite films were deposited epitaxially on ZnO underlayer from targets with composition of BaO-6.5Fe2O3 at substrate temperature of 600 using the facing targets sputtering apparatus. The gas mixture of Ar and Xe of 0.18 Pa and O2 of 0.02 Pa was used as the sputtering gas and the dependences of crystallographic and magnetic characteristics on the partial Xe pressure PXe(0.0-0.18 Pa) were investigated. Films deposited at various PXe were composed of BaM ferrite and spinel crystallites, and the minimum centerline average roughness Ra of 8.3 nm was obtained at PXe of 0.10 Pa. Since saturation 4πMs of 5.1 kG and perpendicular anisotropy constant Ku1 of 4.23105 Jm-3 were larger than those of bulk BaM ferrite of 4.8 kG and 3.30105 Jm-3, respectively, these films appeared promising for use as perpendicular recording media.

Co-Zr and Co-Zr-Ta amorphous films were prepared by the Kr sputtering method for use as the backlayers of Co-Cr perpendicular magnetic recording tape media. The effect of the addition of Ta to Co-Zr thin films was also investigated. Lower substrate temperature was required to prepare amorphous Co-Zr films with excellent soft magnetic properties. The relationships among Ta content X, magnetostriction constant λ and magnetic characteristics such as coercivity Hc and relative permeability µr were clarified. A method of evaluating λ of soft magnetic thin films deposited on polymer sheet substrate has been presented. Films with composition of (Co95.7Zr4.3) 100-X TaX at X of 10 at.% possessed sufficiency soft magnetic properties such as low Hc below 80 A/m and high µr above 600. Addition of Ta was effective in changing change the sign of λ from positive to negative. It was found that the negative magnetoelastic energy and the smaller λ caused the soft magnetism.

The ultraclean sputtering process (UC-process) was newly introduced in the fabrication of Co62.5Ni30Cr7.5 and Co85.5Cr10.5Ta4 thin film media to establish a new concept in controlling microstructure. UC-process enables the realization of high coercive force Hc up to 2.7-3 kOe in both CoNiCr and CoCrTa media (15/50 nm magnetic/Cr thicknesses) without the decrement of saturation magnetization. The purification of the atmosphere during sputtering and the removal of the adsorbed oxygen impurity on the substrate surface play important roles in obtaining high Hc by applying the UC-process. This high Hc is mainly due to the realization of large magnetocrystalline anisotropy field of grains Hkgrain and low intergranular exchange coupling. UC-process realizes the adequate separation of grains by segregated grain boundaries even in media with thin Cr thickness of 2.5 nm, and enables grain size reduction without the remarkable increment in intergranular exchange coupling. In these media, the reduction of the grain size is most effective for the improvement of readback signal to media noise ratio S/Nm. In the media with grains sufficiently separated by segregated grain boundaries fabricated by the UC-process, control of grain size reduction and further increase in Hc/Hkgrain value through the decrement in intergranular magnetostatic coupling are required to obtain higher S/Nm value.

Thin (Ba0.75Sr0.25)TiO3 (BST) films to be used as dielectric materials in 256 Mbit DRAM capacitors were investigated. These films were deposited by an rf-sputtering method at substrate temperatures of 480 to 750. As substrate temperature increases, the dielectric constant to the films also increases, from 230 to 550. BST films prepared at temperatures higher than 700 show larger current leaks than films prepared at lower temperatures. A dielectric constant of 250, corresponding to a silicon oxide equivalent thickness (teq) of 0.47 nm, and a leak current density about 110-8 A/cm2 were obtained in 30-nm-thick film deposited at 660. Both of these values are sufficient for use in a 256 Mbit DRAM capacitor.

Bi2Sr2CuOx (Bi(2201)) thin films have been fabricated by atomic layer-by-layer deposition using ion beam sputtering (IBS) method. During the deposition, 14 wt%-ozone/oxygen mixture gas of typical pressure of 5.010-5 Torr is supplied with ultraviolet light irradiation for oxidation. XRD and RHEED investigations reveal that a buffer layer with compositions different from Bi(2201) is formed at the early deposition stage of less than 10 units cell and then Bi(2201) oriented along the c-axis is grown.

A sputtering system using dc hollow cathode discharge was developed for the propose of high Tc superconducting devices. Using this system, as-grown superconducting thin films of YBCO have been formed on MgO and SrTiO3 substrates. Influence of the sputtering conditions such as the substrate temperature and discharge gas pressure on the Tc and lattice parameter was investigated. It was found that superconducting films on MgO with Tczero higher than 87 K ere routinely obtained at the pressure of 820 mTorr (5%O2) and substrate temperature of 700 during deposition. The a/b-axis and c-axis oriented YBCO-PBCO hetero-structures were also successfully formed on MgO and SrTiO3 substrates.

The barrier-layer was successfully fabricated for a preparation of tunneling junction using high Tc oxidesuperconductor such as Bi-Sr-Ca-Cu-O system. Bi2Sr2Ca2Cu3Ox films were used for both superconducting electrodes and the barrier was mainly Bi2Sr2CaCu2O and the rest that was formed by effects of de-calcium from the first sputtered (2223) film. The reaction of de-calcium occurred immersing it in carbonated water. The change of (2223) phase of BSCCO was confirmed with a comparison of the intensity of X-ray diffraction. The superconductive transition temperature of the junction is different from that of the single film (2223) which had no treatment with carbonated water. Zero-bias-currents through fabricated barrier are observed and the critical currents depend on temperature so far as measured temperature region of 79 K-72 K.