On the Trimming of Resistance for Cermet Thin Films by Radio Frequency Sputter-Etching Method

Electrical properties of Ta-SiO_2 cermet thin films prepared by diode RF. Sputtering were investigated, and RF. sputter-etching for these films was carried out with Ar gas. It was seen that Ta-SiO_2 cermet thin films had positive temperature coefficient of resistance when these were sputtered from the targets which had Ta area ratios over 50％. The resistivities for these films were about 500-700μΩ-cm. For the cermet thin films in this system, it was found that it was possible to perform the trimming of resistance with higher accuracy than that by chemical etching if the sputter-etching was carried out with RF. power of 100 watts