Cylindric high power impulse magnetron sputtering source and its discharge characteristics

High power impulse magnetron sputtering (HiPIMS) is a popular physical vapor deposition (PVD) technology because of the high ionization of the sputtering materials, large coating density, good adhesion, and other favorable properties. However, this technique suffers some disadvantages such as the small deposition rate induced by the high target potential, the "metallic droplets" produced by the unstable discharge, and different ionizations for different sputtering materials, thereby hampering wider acceptance by the industry. A cylindric HiPIMS source in which the discharge is restricted in the cylinder is described in this paper. By using this source, coatings can be deposited with 100% ions without "metallic droplets" arising from the unstable discharge, and the unionized sputtered atoms cannot be extracted by the extraction grid with negative potential. Electron oscillation and repetitive sputtering of the unionized atoms occur in the cylinder to enhance collision and ionization. Due to the enlarged discharge area by the cylinder internal surface comparing with the area of the ion outlet (end face of the cylinder), the sputtering ions converge from the inwall to the center of the cylinder target and form an enhanced flow to spray out from the source, which will improve the deposition rate. The structure and discharge characteristics of the novel HiPIMS source are investigated by simulation and experiments. Our results indicate that 8 magnets can provide the reasonable magnetic field and the highest target utilization rate. The distributions of electrons and ions in the target each consist of 8 petals in the optimized magnetic structure, and the highest plasma density happens near the target, which is above 1.3×10¹⁷ m^-3. The discharge characteristics confirm that the cylindric sputtering source can be operated under HiPIMS conditions and the evolution of the target currents with target voltage exhibits I-V characteristics typical of HiPIMS. An obvious pre-ionization is observed on the discharge glow and discharge current curves when the extra direct current (DC) is added. The "racetrack" area is about 60.0% of the target surface. The ion current curves are similar to those of the target currents, but a 40 μs delay and about one-tenth current value are observed compared with the target currents. The sputtering is improved by the extra DC, inducing the increased metallic ions and the opposite evolution of gas ions. The results suggest that the cylindric sputtering source can be effectively used to conduct HiPIMS and is a novel way to improve and promote the application of HiPIMS.