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Zn(O,S) thin films were successfully deposited by reactive sputtering using Ar and O2 gas mixtures at 473 K. X-ray diffraction patterns revealed that the well crystallized Zn(O,S) films were deposited with increasing oxygen concentration in O2/Ar, resulting in a shift of the Zn peak of 28.5 to a higher angle, closer to the ZnO peak of 34.4°. Zn(O,S) films were composed of grains agglomerated from small particles, which grew gradually with increasing oxygen concentration. The depth profiles and energy dispersive spectroscopy results of the films indicated that the O/(OþS) ratio increased from 0.04 to 0.81, and all Zn(O,S) films were Zn rich with uniform concentrations of each component. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy revealed that, as the oxygen concentration increased to 2%, the ZnS films were transformed to Zn(O,S) films via substitution of oxygen for sulfur. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Co2MnSi thin films masked with TiN films were etched in CH4/Ar and CH4/O2/Ar plasmas by inductively coupled plasma reactive ion etching. The etch rates decreased with increasing CH4 concentration in CH4/Ar gas, whereas the etch selectivity increased. The addition of O2 to CH4/Ar gas resulted in significant improvement in the etch profile but a decrease in the etch rates. Optical emission spectroscopy showed that a variety of COx, OH, and H2O species were formed in the CH4/O2/Ar plasma, acting a role as a passivation layer to protect the pattern sidewalls. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy also confirmed the formation of metal oxides on the film surface, which could be sputtered off easily by Ar ion bombardment. A high degree of anisotropy of Co2MnSi films was obtained in the CH4/O2/Ar etch gas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]