Plasma diagnostics of low pressure high power impulse magnetron sputtering assisted by electron cyclotron wave resonance plasma

Abstract

Articles you may be interested inExperimental investigations of silicon tetrafluoride decomposition in ECR discharge plasma Rev. Sci. Instrum. 82, 063503 (2011); 10.1063/1.3599618 Design and characterization of 2.45 GHz electron cyclotron resonance plasma source with magnetron magnetic field configuration for high flux of hyperthermal neutral beam Rev. Sci. Instrum. 81, 083301 (2010);This paper reports on an investigation of the hybrid pulsed sputtering source based on the combination of electron cyclotron wave resonance (ECWR) inductively coupled plasma and high power impulse magnetron sputtering (HiPIMS) of a Ti target. The plasma source, operated in an Ar atmosphere at a very low pressure of 0.03 Pa, provides plasma where the major fraction of sputtered particles is ionized. It was found that ECWR assistance increases the electron temperature during the HiPIMS pulse. The discharge current and electron density can achieve their stable maximum 10 ls after the onset of the HiPIMS pulse. Further, a high concentration of double charged Ti þþ with energies of up to 160 eV was detected. All of these facts were verified experimentally by time-resolved emission spectroscopy, retarding field analyzer measurement, Langmuir probe, and energy-resolved mass spectrometry. V C 2012 American Institute of Physics.

Microwave plasma-assisted reactive HiPIMS of InN films: Plasma environment and material characterisation

“…When igniting the HiPIMS discharge under MW plasma conditions, Langmuir probe results depicted similar trends reported and explained by Hain et al [26] and Stranak et al [37]. Considerable perturbations are introduced to the MW plasma, where the negative electric field (− 950 V) draws the ions from the substrate region towards the magnetrons causing the observed plasma property changes to those typical for HiPIMS.…”

Growth of Crystalline Hydroxyapatite Thin Films at Room Temperature by Tuning the Energy of the RF-Magnetron Sputtering Plasma

“…Under this condition, the substrate could be positioned at the edge of the plasma sheath to maximize the energy that is delivered to the substrate surface. From the Langmuir probe measurements, it was possible to map the applied voltage (V B ) × current (I) function around the plasma sheath region and to calculate the electron energy distribution function, f(ε) (eq 1, section 2), 41,49 for different values of Z, as shown in Figure 2c. The slight movement of the function, f(ε), to the left indicates an increase in cold electrons (low energy) as the height Z increases, which slightly affects the properties of the plasma.…”

Influence of reactive oxygen species during deposition of iron oxide films by high power impulse magnetron sputtering

“…Lower pressures have the advantage that the number of collisions is significantly reduced. To ease operation of HiPIMS discharges at low pressures we employ a combination with an additional electron cyclotron wave resonance (ECWR) discharge allowing for operation pressures as low as 0.05 Pa [22,23].…”