Ion density increase in high power twin-cathode magnetron system

Vozniy, Oleksiy; Duday, David; Lejars, A.; Wirtz, Tom

doi:10.1016/j.vacuum.2011.04.017

Cited by 11 publications

(2 citation statements)

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“…An important finding was that the values of the discharge current were generally higher for the second pair. It seems possible that these results are due to a self-supporting mechanism of interacting magnetrons briefly described in [24] and are in accordance with earlier observations of self-sputtering for relatively long pulses: the current's second peak, attributed to the metal phase, can be easily identified.…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 91%

Double magnetron self-sputtering in HiPIMS discharges

Vozniy¹,

Duday²,

Lejars³

et al. 2011

Plasma Sources Sci. Technol.

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There is an increasing concern that high power impulse magnetron sputtering (HiPIMS) systems are being disadvantaged by relatively low deposition rates compared with traditional dc magnetrons operating at the same average power input. Nevertheless, a minimization of the losses of ionized and neutral species is possible in HiPIMS discharges. In the described magnetron configuration, the majority of metal ions escaping the discharge volume can be either used for deposition or, if they fail to reach the substrate, for discharge maintenance when charge redistribution from one ionization area to the other takes place. The anode-to-cathode configuration allows the neutrals, which are not deposited on the substrate, to be guided to the other instantaneous cathode and be ionized or re-sputtered. For the same average power input, it becomes possible to increase the self-sputtering efficiency, deposition rate and obtain a versatile control over the film microstructure.

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Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 91%

Double magnetron self-sputtering in HiPIMS discharges

Vozniy¹,

Duday²,

Lejars³

et al. 2011

Plasma Sources Sci. Technol.

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“…The peak electron density during the second pulse as well as the temporal variation of the effective electron temperature and the ion fluxes on the substrate can be controlled by the delay time between the pulses. Vozniy et al 159 apply high power pulses to four cathode targets. They find that if a 20 ls long pulse is applied first to two magnetron targets, and then 20 ls later to the second pair of cathode targets, the ion density is about 40% higher than when applying the pulse simultaneously to all four cathode targets.…”

Section: à3mentioning

confidence: 99%

High power impulse magnetron sputtering discharge

Guðmundsson¹,

Brenning²,

Lundin³

et al. 2012

Journal of Vacuum Science &Amp; Technology A: Vacuum, Surfaces, and Films

637

446

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The high power impulse magnetron sputtering (HiPIMS) discharge is a recent addition to plasma based sputtering technology. In HiPIMS, high power is applied to the magnetron target in unipolar pulses at low duty cycle and low repetition frequency while keeping the average power about 2 orders of magnitude lower than the peak power. This results in a high plasma density, and high ionization fraction of the sputtered vapor, which allows better control of the film growth by controlling the energy and direction of the deposition species. This is a significant advantage over conventional dc magnetron sputtering where the sputtered vapor consists mainly of neutral species. The HiPIMS discharge is now an established ionized physical vapor deposition technique, which is easily scalable and has been successfully introduced into various industrial applications. The authors give an overview of the development of the HiPIMS discharge, and the underlying mechanisms that dictate the discharge properties. First, an introduction to the magnetron sputtering discharge and its various configurations and modifications is given. Then the development and properties of the high power pulsed power supply are discussed, followed by an overview of the measured plasma parameters in the HiPIMS discharge, the electron energy and density, the ion energy, ion flux and plasma composition, and a discussion on the deposition rate. Finally, some of the models that have been developed to gain understanding of the discharge processes are reviewed, including the phenomenological material pathway model, and the ionization region model.

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