High Power Impulse Magnetron Sputtering

Fundamentals, Technologies, Challenges and Applications

Daniel Lundin, Tiberiu Minea, Jon Tomas Gudmundsson

• Publisher: Elsevier
• Year: 2019
• Print ISBN: 9780128124543
• eBook ISBN: 9780128124550
• Topic: Technology & Engineering
• Subtopic: Materials Science
• Index: Technology & Engineering

High Power Impulse Magnetron Sputtering: Fundamentals, Technologies, Challenges and Applications is an in-depth introduction to HiPIMS that emphasizes how this novel sputtering technique differs from conventional magnetron processes in terms of both discharge physics and the resulting thin film characteristics. Ionization of sputtered atoms is discussed in detail for various target materials. In addition, the role of self-sputtering, secondary electron emission and the importance of controlling the process gas dynamics, both inert and reactive gases, are examined in detail with an aim to generate stable HiPIMS processes.Lastly, the book also looks at how to characterize the HiPIMS discharge, including essential diagnostic equipment. Experimental results and simulations based on industrially relevant material systems are used to illustrate mechanisms controlling nucleation kinetics, column formation and microstructure evolution.- Includes a comprehensive description of the HiPIMS process from fundamental physics to applications- Provides a distinctive link between the process plasma and thin film communities- Discusses the industrialization of HiPIMS and its real world applications

1

Introduction to magnetron sputtering

Jon Tomas Gudmundsson^a,b; Daniel Lundin^{c a}Department of Space and Plasma Physics, School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden
^bScience Institute, University of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland
^cLaboratoire de Physique des Gaz et Plasmas - LPGP, UMR 8578 CNRS, Université Paris–Sud, Université Paris–Saclay, Orsay Cedex, France

Abstract

Plasma-based physical vapor deposition (PVD) methods have found widespread use in various industrial applications. In plasma-based PVD processes, the deposition species are either vaporized by thermal evaporation or by sputtering from a source (the cathode target) by ion bombardment. Initially, the dc glow discharge or the dc diode sputtering discharge was used as a sputter source followed by the magnetron sputtering technique, which was developed during the 1960s and 1970s. With the introduction of magnetron sputtering, the disadvantages of diode sputtering, such as poor deposition rate, were overcome as the operating pressure could be reduced while maintaining the energy of the sputtered species, often resulting in improved film properties. In this chapter we discuss the basics of the sputtering process, give an overview of the dc glow discharge, and review the basic physics relevant to the maintenance of the discharge and the sputter processes. Then we discuss the dc glow discharge and its role as a sputter source and how it evolves into the magnetron sputtering discharge. We also discuss various magnetron sputtering configurations in use for a wide range of applications both under laboratory and industrial arrangements. Finally, we introduce pulsed magnetron discharges including high power impulse magnetron sputtering (HiPIMS) discharges.

Keywords

Low-temperature plasmas; dc glow discharge; Sputtering; Magnetron sputtering; Physical vapor deposition

Plasma-based physical vapor deposition (PVD) methods have found widespread use in various industrial applications. In plasma-based PVD processes, the deposition species are either vaporized by thermal evaporation or by sputtering from a source (the cathode target) by ion bombardment. Sputter deposition has been known for decades as a flexible, reliable, and effective coating method. Initially, the dc glow discharge or the dc diode sputtering discharge was used as a sputter source followed by the magnetron sputtering technique, which was developed during the 1960s and 1970s. Magnetron sputtering has been the workhorse of plasma-based sputtering applications for the past four decades. In the planar configuration, the magnetron sputtering discharge is simply a diode sputtering arrangement with the addition of magnets directly behind the cathode target. With the introduction of magnetron sputtering, the disadvantages of diode sputtering, such as poor deposition rate, were overcome as the operating pressure could be reduced while maintaining the energy of the sputtered species, often resulting in improved film properties. Here we discuss the basics of the sputtering process, give an overview of the dc glow discharge, and review the basic physics relevant to the maintenance of the discharge and the sputter processes. Then we discuss the dc glow discharge and its role as a sputter source and how it evolves into the magnetron sputtering discharge. We also discuss various magnetron sputtering configurations in use for a wide range of applications both under laboratory and industrial arrangements. Finally, we introduce pulsed magnetron discharges including high power impulse magnetron sputtering (HiPIMS) discharges.

1.1 Fundamentals of sputtering

An important process that takes place in a...

Table of contents

• Cover image
• Title page
• Table of Contents
• Copyright
• Contributors
• Preface
• 1: Introduction to magnetron sputtering
• 2: Hardware and power management for high power impulse magnetron sputtering
• 3: Electron dynamics in high power impulse magnetron sputtering discharges
• 4: Heavy species dynamics in high power impulse magnetron sputtering discharges
• 5: Modeling the high power impulse magnetron sputtering discharge
• 6: Reactive high power impulse magnetron sputtering
• 7: Physics of high power impulse magnetron sputtering discharges
• 8: Synthesis of thin films and coatings by high power impulse magnetron sputtering
• Index