substratebiased

Substratebiased is an adjective used in materials science to describe materials, films, or surfaces that have been produced or modified under the influence of an applied substrate bias during deposition or etching. Substrate bias refers to the application of a direct current or pulsed voltage to the substrate, which accelerates ions in a plasma toward the surface. The resulting ion bombardment can affect adatom mobility, resputtering, and energy transfer at the interface.

In deposition, substratebiased processing is used to influence film density, microstructure, texture, adhesion, and residual stress. It can promote densification and compressive stress, reduce porosity, and modify grain size and orientation. In etching or cleaning, substrate bias controls ion energy to achieve more anisotropic etching and cleaner surfaces. Substratebiased materials may exhibit improved hardness and dielectric strength, or enhanced wear resistance, depending on process conditions and materials.

Typical effects depend on bias level, pulse parameters (for pulsed biases), chamber pressure, and substrate temperature. Higher bias generally increases ion energy, which can improve certain film properties but also raises the risk of substrate heating or damage and potential resputtering. The term often appears in descriptions of magnetron sputtering, ion-assisted deposition, and plasma-enhanced processes.