Reactive ionized physical vapor deposition of thin films

Konstantinidis, Stéphanos; Snyders, Rony

doi:10.1051/epjap/2011110199

Cited by 11 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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“…In a reactive state, this is supplemented by the gas recycling, however, in the described case of target cleaning only reactive particles sputtered from the target were available. Therefore, such sputtering mechanism can be neglected as shown in earlier experiments [37]. As the reactive compound is harder to sputter, creating less metallic ions than in the case of a clean target, the border between the Ar recycling and metallic recycling could be shifted for higher currents.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spoke behaviour in reactive HiPIMS

Klein¹,

Hnilica²,

Fekete³

et al. 2021

Plasma Sources Sci. Technol.

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Plasma in high-power impulse magnetron sputtering discharge, similarly to other discharges utilising E × B field (Hall thrusters, homopolar devices), undergoes self-organisation into the ionisation zones predominantly rotating in the E × B direction, called spokes. Many studies were conducted focussing on the characterisation of their appearance, mode number, rotational velocity, merging and splitting events in different experimental conditions. Nevertheless, only very little research has been conducted in the case of reactive sputtering, where only the general spoke characteristics were evaluated. A dual-image fast camera screening was utilised to capture plasma emission on 3 Nb target in a reactive mixture of nitrogen and argon. Spoke characteristics were evaluated while overall pressure and supplied power was kept constant and the content of nitrogen in N 2 /Ar mixture was varied. The shape, velocity and spoke mode number were significantly affected by the higher content of N 2 in the mixture. To distinguish between the effects of the modified target surface state and reactive gas present in the plasma volume on spokes experiments with compound NbN target were also performed. Surprisingly, no real differences of spoke behaviour between Nb and NbN targets were observed.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spoke behaviour in reactive HiPIMS

Klein¹,

Hnilica²,

Fekete³

et al. 2021

Plasma Sources Sci. Technol.

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show abstract

“…The high electron density in the HiPIMS discharge is expected to enhance the dissociation of the molecular gas, which is sometimes considered beneficial for the oxided or nitride deposition. 216 The presence of reactive gas can also lead to the formation of compound material on the target surface, often referred to as target coverage or target poisoning. 217 Due to this target coverage the reactive sputtering process is inherently unstable, and is commonly represented in a familiar hysteresis curve that shows, e.g., the deposition rate or the target voltage versus the flow rate of the reactant molecular gas.…”

Section: E Reactive Sputteringmentioning

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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“…1,2 Pulsing the target to a high power density with short voltage pulses while maintaining a low duty cycle results in a high electron density, 3 which provides a high ionization fraction of the sputtered atoms. 7,8 In addition, the high electron density results in increased dissociation of the molecular gas and thus the reactivity of the sputtered species is increased, 9,10 which is beneficial during reactive sputtering, where a reactive gas such as O 2 or N 2 is added to the discharge. 7,8 In addition, the high electron density results in increased dissociation of the molecular gas and thus the reactivity of the sputtered species is increased, 9,10 which is beneficial during reactive sputtering, where a reactive gas such as O 2 or N 2 is added to the discharge.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Current–voltage–time characteristics of the reactive Ar/O2 high power impulse magnetron sputtering discharge

Magnus

Tryggvason

Ólafsson

et al. 2012

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

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Articles you may be interested inInvestigation of ionized metal flux in enhanced high power impulse magnetron sputtering discharges J. Appl. Phys. 115, 153301 (2014); 10.1063/1.4871635 Time-resolved temperature study in a high-power impulse magnetron sputtering discharge Spatial and temporal evolution of ion energies in high power impulse magnetron sputtering plasma discharge J. Appl. Phys. 108, 063301 (2010); 10.1063/1.3486018 High power impulse magnetron sputtering: Current-voltage-time characteristics indicate the onset of sustained self-sputtering

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Reactive ionized physical vapor deposition of thin films

Cited by 11 publications

References 42 publications

Spoke behaviour in reactive HiPIMS

Spoke behaviour in reactive HiPIMS

High power impulse magnetron sputtering discharge

Current–voltage–time characteristics of the reactive Ar/O2 high power impulse magnetron sputtering discharge

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