The physical reason for the apparently low deposition rate during high-power pulsed magnetron sputtering

Emmerlich, Jens; Mráz, Stanislav; Snyders, Rony; Jiang, Kaiyun; Schneider, Jochen M.

doi:10.1016/j.vacuum.2007.10.011

Cited by 98 publications

(58 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…If referred to the conventional DCMS at the same average power, the timeaveraged HiPIMS rate in most of the cases constitutes only a fraction of the DCMS rate [8], [9]. The physical reasons that may account for this behavior include the following: 1) the effective capturing of the ionized portion of the sputtered material as described by the target-pathway model [10], [11]; 2) the enhanced radial transport (across the magnetic-field lines) that increases deposition rates at the side of the cathode (perpendicular to the target surface) and decreases a fraction of sputtered materials reaching the substrate placed directly in front of the target [14]; 3) lower sputtering efficiency at higher target voltage typically used in HiPIMS that results from the fact that sputter yield increases with increasing ion energy that is less than in a linear way [15]; 4) changes in plasma impedance that may effectively reduce the voltage available for the sheath so that it constitutes a lower fraction of the total target voltage than it is the case with DCMS at the corresponding average power [12]; and 5) for some materials with low selfsputtering yield, a reduction in deposition rate may be observed if the pulselength is long enough to allow for transition to the self-sputtering mode [12]. Fig.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For comparison, with sputtering in the dc mode at the same average power, the target voltage V DC is constant in time and amounts to 368 V (f N 2 /Ar = 0). Because the target voltage is significantly higher in the HiPIMS case, a certain drop in the sputtering efficiency (and, thus, deposition rate) is expected owing to the fact that the sputter yield does not increase linearly with increasing ion energy, as was pointed out by Emmerlich et al [15]. To quantify this effect, we define the relative sputtering-efficiency function γ(t) as…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The downside of the high ionization achieved in HiPIMS plasmas is the apparent drop in the deposition rate compared with DCMS at the corresponding power level [9]. Numerous possible scenarios have been put forward to explain this issue [10]- [15], and it becomes clear that the physical phenomena that account for the rate loss may depend not only on the choice of processing gas and target material but also on detailed arrangement of the sputtering system. Since high deposition rates are crucial for most of the industrial applications, substantial effort [16], [17] is being made to resolve this issue.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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$\hbox{CrN}_{\rm x}$ Films Prepared by DC Magnetron Sputtering and High-Power Pulsed Magnetron Sputtering: A Comparative Study

Greczyński

Jensen

Hultman

2010

IEEE Trans. Plasma Sci.

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Abstract-CrN x (0 ≤ x ≤ 0.91) films synthesized using highpower pulsed magnetron sputtering, also known as high-power impulse magnetron sputtering (HiPIMS), have been compared with those made by conventional direct-current (dc) magnetron sputtering (DCMS) operated at the same average power. The HiPIMS deposition rate relative to the DCMS rate was found to decrease linearly with increasing emission strength from the Cr ions relative to Cr neutrals, in agreement with the predictions of the target-pathway model. The low deposition rate in HiPIMS is thus a direct consequence of the high ionization level (∼56%) of the target material and effective capturing of Cr ions by the cathode potential. Although the HiPIMS deposition rate did not exceed 40% of the DCMS rate, the drop in the relative deposition rate upon increasing the N 2 -to-Ar flow ratio, f N 2 /Ar , was found to be similar for both sputtering techniques. Films prepared by HiPIMS contained similar amounts of atomic nitrogen as the dc-sputtered samples grown at the same f N 2 /Ar , indicating that the nitride formation at the substrate takes place mostly during the time period of the high-power pulses, and the N 2 uptake between the pulses is negligible. The microstructure evolution in the two types of CrN x films, however, differed clearly from each other. A combination of a high substrate bias and a high flux of doubly charged Cr ions present during the HiPIMS discharge led to a disruption of the grain growth and renucleation, which resulted in column-free films with nanosized grains not observed in the conventional DCMS-based process. The comparison of nanoindentation hardness as a function of f N 2 /Ar revealed superior properties of HiPIMS-sputtered films in the entire range of gas compositions.Index Terms-CrN, high-power impulse magnetron sputtering (HiPIMS), high-power pulsed magnetron sputtering, magnetron sputtering.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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$\hbox{CrN}_{\rm x}$ Films Prepared by DC Magnetron Sputtering and High-Power Pulsed Magnetron Sputtering: A Comparative Study

Greczyński

Jensen

Hultman

2010

IEEE Trans. Plasma Sci.

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“…In a recent publication by Mishra et al, 68 it is reported that the deposition rate at the substrate position could be increased six times by weakening the magnetic field strength at the target surface by ;33%. Emmerlich et al 69 highlighted the nonlinear energy dependence of the sputtering yield, meaning that it does not make sense to compare HiPIMS and DCMS deposition rates for the same average power, if not taking this dependence into account. When comparing with experimental results, they saw trends confirming their experiments, but it could not fully explain the differences.…”

Section: Deposition Ratementioning

confidence: 99%

“…, 69 where V D is the applied discharge voltage, suggesting that the best choice to increase the deposition rate is not always to increase the applied voltage but, for example, increase the pulse frequency.…”

Section: E Pulse Configurationmentioning

confidence: 99%

An introduction to thin film processing using high-power impulse magnetron sputtering

2012

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High-power impulse magnetron sputtering (HiPIMS) is a promising sputtering-based ionized physical vapor deposition technique and is already making its way to industrial applications. The major difference between HiPIMS and conventional magnetron sputtering processes is the mode of operation. In HiPIMS the power is applied to the magnetron (target) in unipolar pulses at a low duty factor (andlt;10%) and low frequency (andlt;10 kHz) leading to peak target power densities of the order of several kilowatts per square centimeter while keeping the average target power density low enough to avoid magnetron overheating and target melting. These conditions result in the generation of a highly dense plasma discharge, where a large fraction of the sputtered material is ionized and thereby providing new and added means for the synthesis of tailor-made thin films. In this review, the features distinguishing HiPIMS from other deposition methods will be addressed in detail along with how they influence the deposition conditions, such as the plasma parameters and the sputtered material, as well as the resulting thin film properties, such as microstructure, phase formation, and chemical composition. General trends will be established in conjunction to industrially relevant material systems to present this emerging technology to the interested reader.Funding Agencies|Swedish Research Council (VR)|623-2009-7348

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High Temporal Resolution Ion Energy Distribution Functions in HIPIMS Discharges

Mishra

Clarke

Kelly

et al. 2009

Plasma Processes & Polymers

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A technique for obtaining high time resolution ion energy distribution functions (IEDFs) at the substrate in depositing plasma has been demonstrated, and applied to a high power impulse magnetron sputtering (HIPIMS) discharge. Key to this technique is the electrostatic gating of ions inside the instrument end cap. To demonstrate the performance of this technique, IEDF measurements with a 2 µs time‐resolution have been made with the following HIPIMS operating conditions: a repetition rate of 100 Hz, a pulse width of 100 µs, a pressure of 0.26 Pa and a peak power density of 2.5 kW cm−2. The orifice of the mass spectrometer was positioned facing the racetrack region of the circular magnetron cathode. The Ar+ ions were detected 8 µs after initiation of the discharge voltage pulse, exhibiting a narrow distribution of energies, while Ti+ ions were detected 14 µs after the initiation, showing a high‐energy tail extending up to 100 eV. The time‐evolution of Ti+ ions show that the metal flux starts to be built up at the substrate position at times 20 µs after the pulse initiation.

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The physical reason for the apparently low deposition rate during high-power pulsed magnetron sputtering

Cited by 98 publications

References 19 publications

$\hbox{CrN}_{\rm x}$ Films Prepared by DC Magnetron Sputtering and High-Power Pulsed Magnetron Sputtering: A Comparative Study

$\hbox{CrN}_{\rm x}$ Films Prepared by DC Magnetron Sputtering and High-Power Pulsed Magnetron Sputtering: A Comparative Study

An introduction to thin film processing using high-power impulse magnetron sputtering

High Temporal Resolution Ion Energy Distribution Functions in HIPIMS Discharges

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