Investigation of ionized metal flux in enhanced high power impulse magnetron sputtering discharges
- Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia, Branisovska 31, 37005 Ceske Budejovice (Czech Republic)
- Institute of Physics v. v. i., Academy of Science of the Czech Republic, Na Slovance 2, 182 21 Prague (Czech Republic)
- Institut für Physik, Ernst-Moritz-Arndt-Universität Greifswald, Felix-Hausdorff-Str. 6, 17489 Greifswald (Germany)
- Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, Charles University in Prague, V Holesovickach 2, 180 00 Prague (Czech Republic)
The metal ionized flux fraction and production of double charged metal ions Me{sup 2+} of different materials (Al, Cu, Fe, Ti) by High Power Impulse Magnetron Sputtering (HiPIMS) operated with and without a pre-ionization assistance is compared in the paper. The Electron Cyclotron Wave Resonance (ECWR) discharge was employed as the pre-ionization agent providing a seed of charge in the idle time of HiPIMS pulses. A modified grid-free biased quartz crystal microbalance was used to estimate the metal ionized flux fraction ξ. The energy-resolved mass spectrometry served as a complementary method to distinguish particular ion contributions to the total ionized flux onto the substrate. The ratio between densities of doubly Me{sup 2+} and singly Me{sup +} charged metal ions was determined. It is shown that ECWR assistance enhances Me{sup 2+} production with respect of absorbed rf-power. The ECWR discharge also increases the metal ionized flux fraction of about 30% especially in the region of lower pressures. Further, the suppression of the gas rarefaction effect due to enhanced secondary electron emission of Me{sup 2+} was observed.
- OSTI ID:
- 22273564
- Journal Information:
- Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 115, Issue 15; Other Information: (c) 2014 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0021-8979
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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