A brief history of sputtering magnetrons: New discoveries indicate how they really work

by Andre Anders (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory)

Wednesday 31 May 2017, 12:00 → 13:00 US/Pacific

Building 50 Auditorium

ABSTRACT Thin films made by magnetron sputtering are critical to our life. Without them we would not have computers, smart phones, touch panels, and energy-efficient windows, to name a few applications. Film deposition by sputtering can be traced back to 1852 (yes, of course, it was unintentional at first). Sputtering magnetrons have been used since the 1970s, and today the technology is considered mature. However, the development of High Power Impulse Magnetron Sputtering (HiPIMS) in the last decade has made us aware that the underlying plasma physics is actually much more complicated than thought [1]. This realization applies to HiPIMS as well as to the more conventional forms of the technology such as dc magnetron sputtering. Several groups reported on moving ionization instabilities in the plasma, often called “spokes” in analogy to instabilities known from Hall thrusters used in the propulsion of satellites. Besides spokes, we also found a “breathing” instability. These and other plasma effects are caused by localized heating of electrons in the magnetic presheath, a rich field of discovery. [1] A. Anders, J. Appl. Phys. 121 (2017) 171101.