Effect of working gas pressure on mass-to-charge composition of plasma ions in high-current planar magnetron discharge

The mass-to-charge ion composition of a planar magnetron discharge plasma has been investigated. The measurements used a modified quadrupole mass-spectrometer and a time-of-flight spectrometer. The experiments were carried out on a copper magnetron target. Argon was used as a working gas. The operating pressure was 0.15÷1.3 Pa. The discharge current was 1÷20 A with a pulse duration of 30÷50 μs. The influence of main operating parameters (discharge current and working gas pressure) on mass-to-charge composition of plasma ions was measured. The mass-to-charge composition of plasma ions in the axial direction was measured as a function of working pressure. Plasma electron temperature was measured and its effect on the mass-to-charge composition of magnetron plasma ions was estimated.

DISCHARGE CHARACTERISTICS OF COMBINED LOW ENERGY ION SOURCE – MAGNETRON SPUTTERING SYSTEM

The discharge characteristics of a new combined low energy magnetron-ion-source sputtering system are presented. The ignition curves, current-voltage characteristics of the system in dependence on gas pressure, magnitude and topology of magnetic field have been researched both for autonomous operation of the planar magnetron discharge and Hall type ion source in plasma mode and for their combination. Spatial distributions of ion current are also presented.