High power pulsed magnetron sputtering (HPPMS) is an emerging technology that has gained substantial interest among academics and industrials alike. HPPMS, also known as HIPIMS (high power impulse ...

High power pulsed magnetron sputtering: A review on scientific and engineering state of the art

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 pulse ...

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High power impulse magnetron sputtering discharge

The commonly used current-voltage characteristics are found inadequate for describing the pulsed nature of the high power impulse magnetron sputtering (HIPIMS) discharge; rather, the description needs to be expanded to current-voltage-time characteristics for each initial gas pressure. Using different target materials (Cu, Ti, Nb, C, W, Al, and Cr) and a pulsed constant-voltage supply, it is shown that the HIPIMS discharges typically exhibit an initial pressure dependent current peak followed by a second phase that is power and material dependent. This suggests that the initial phase of a HIPIMS discharge pulse is dominated by gas ions, whereas the later phase has a strong contribution from self-sputtering. For some materials, the discharge switches into a mode of sustained self-sputtering. The very large differences between materials cannot be ascribed to the different sputter yields but they indicate that generation and trapping of secondary electrons play a major role for current-voltage-time characteristics. In particular, it is argued that the sustained self-sputtering phase is associated with the generation of multiply charged ions because only they can cause potential emission of secondary electrons, whereas the yield caused by singly charged metal ions is negligibly small.

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High power impulse magnetron sputtering : Current-voltage-time characteristics indicate the onset of sustained self-sputtering

High Power Impulse Magnetron Sputtering (HiPIMS) is a coating technology that combines magnetron sputtering with pulsed power concepts. By applying power in pulses of high amplitude and a relatively low duty cycle, large fractions of sputtered atoms and near-target gases are ionized. In contrast to conventional magnetron sputtering, HiPIMS is characterized by self-sputtering or repeated gas recycling for high and low sputter yield materials, respectively, and both for most intermediate materials. The dense plasma in front of the target has the dual function of sustaining the discharge and providing plasma-assistance to film growth, affecting the microstructure of growing films. Many technologically interesting thin films are compound films, which are composed of one or more metals and a reactive gas, most often oxygen or nitrogen. When reactive gas is added, non-trivial consequences arise for the system because the target may become “poisoned,” i.e., a compound layer forms on the target surface affecting the sputtering yield and the yield of secondary electron emission and thereby all other parameters. It is emphasized that the target state depends not only on the reactive gas' partial pressure (balanced via gas flow and pumping) but also on the ion flux to the target, which can be controlled by pulse parameters. This is a critical technological opportunity for reactive HiPIMS (R-HiPIMS). The scope of this tutorial is focused on plasma processes and mechanisms of operation and only briefly touches upon film properties. It introduces R-HiPIMS in a systematic, step-by-step approach by covering sputtering, magnetron sputtering, reactive magnetron sputtering, pulsed reactive magnetron sputtering, HiPIMS, and finally R-HiPIMS. The tutorial is concluded by considering variations of R-HiPIMS known as modulated pulsed power magnetron sputtering and deep-oscillation magnetron sputtering and combinations of R-HiPIMS with superimposed dc magnetron sputtering.

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Tutorial: Reactive high power impulse magnetron sputtering (R-HiPIMS)

High power impulse magnetron sputtering (HIPIMS) is pulsed sputtering where the peak power exceeds the time-averaged power by typically two orders of magnitude. The peak power density, averaged over the target area, can reach or exceed 10 7  W/m 2 , leading to plasma conditions that make ionization of the sputtered atoms very likely. A brief review of HIPIMS operation is given in a tutorial manner, illustrated by some original data related to the self-sputtering of niobium in argon and krypton. Emphasis is put on the current–voltage–time relationships near the threshold of self-sputtering runaway. The great variety of current pulse shapes delivers clues on the very strong gas rarefaction, self-sputtering runaway conditions, and the stopping of runaway due to the evolution of atom ionization and ion return probabilities as the gas plasma is replaced by metal plasma. The discussions are completed by considering instabilities and the special case of “gasless” self-sputtering.

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Discharge physics of high power impulse magnetron sputtering

Ion-induced electron emission from clean metals

We have studied the dependence of electron yields ..gamma.. from clean Cu and Au surfaces on the incidence angle theta of 5--50-keV He/sup +/, Ar/sup +/, and Xe/sup +/ projectiles, in the angular range 0--80 /sup 0/, and under ultrahigh-vacuum conditions. We have found that, at small angles, ..gamma..proportionalsec/sup f/theta, with f generally different from unity. For Xe/sup +/ on Cu, ..gamma..(theta) presents an energy-dependence maximum, similar to that obtained for sputtering. The results are explained in terms of the anisotropy of the electron cascade in the solid, the depth distribution of the inelastic energy deposited by the projectile and by rapidly recoiling target atoms in the near-surface region of the solid.

J. Ferron

Papers

Ion-induced electron emission from clean metals

Dependence of ion-electron emission from clean metals on the incidence angle of the projectile

Molecular effects in ion-electron emission from clean metal surfaces