Sputtering rates of lead chalcogenide-based ternary solid solutions during inductively coupled argon plasma treatment

Abstract

In this work investigations of sputtering of monocrystalline (1 1 1)-oriented epitaxial films of semiconductor ternary solid solutions of Pb1−xSnxTe (x = 0.00–0.56), Pb1−xEuxTe (x = 0.00–0.05), Pb1−xSnxSe (x = 0.00–0.07), Pb1−xEuxSe (x = 0.00–0.16, x = 1.00), Pb1−xSnxS (x = 0.00–0.05) on Si(1 1 1) and BaF2(1 1 1) substrates in RF high-density low-pressure inductively coupled argon plasma were carried out. It is determined that sputtering rates for the studied materials retain high values typical for binary solutions PbTe, PbSe, PbS. The results indicate the interrelation of the sputtering rates of ternary compounds and of the sublimation energy of binary compounds that constitute a solid solution. The physical model of this characteristic property of lead chalcogenide-based ternary alloys based on the expansion of a classic Sigmund solid sputtering theory explaining the observed sputtering rate behavior with the alloy composition variation is proposed.