We have studied the impact of target material on the electron temperature of high power impulse magnetron sputtering (HiPIMS) discharges. The study is based on results from modeling 35 discharges with seven different target materials, using the ionization region (IR) model, a global plasma chemistry model for HiPIMS discharges. We find that the typical evolution of electron temperatures during a HiPIMS pulse stabilizes at the end of the pulse as a result of a balance between electron heating and electron collisional cooling. The underlying cause is a self-regulating mechanism: the monotonically increasing rate coefficients for relevant electron temperatures in HiPIMS discharges ensure that a higher electron temperature enhances electron collisional cooling, while a lower electron temperature reduces it. We furthermore find the steady state electron temperature to be inversely correlated to the sputter yield of the target material. This is a result of the atomic composition in the IR shifting from argon-dominated at low sputter yields to metal-rich at high sputter yields. As the metal ionization rate coefficients are larger at lower electron temperatures compared to that of the argon ionization rate coefficient, the self-regulating mechanism maintains a lower electron temperature in metal-rich discharges. This has implications for the metal ion escape in a HiPIMS discharge, since the ionization mean free path of sputtered atoms depends on the electron temperature. As a result, ionization in metal-rich discharges (lower electron temperature) occurs, on average, further away from the target surface, where the remaining potential hill to climb, in order for a metal ion to escape to the bulk plasma, is lower. Metal ions in those discharges can therefore escape more easily to the substrate region compared to metal ions in argon-dominated discharges.

The ionization region model (IRM) is applied to explore working gas rarefaction in high power impulse magnetron sputtering discharges operated with graphite, aluminum, copper, titanium, zirconium, and tungsten targets. For all cases the working gas rarefaction is found to be significant, the degree of working gas rarefaction reaches values of up to 83%. The various contributions to working gas rarefaction, including electron impact ionization, kick-out by the sputtered species or hot argon atoms, and diffusion, are evaluated and compared for the different target materials, and over a range of discharge current densities. The relative importance of the various processes varies between different target materials. In the case of a graphite target with argon as the working gas at 1 Pa, electron impact ionization (by both primary and secondary electrons) is the dominating contributor to working gas rarefaction, with over 90% contribution, while the contribution of sputter wind kick-out is small < 10 %. In the case of copper and tungsten targets, the kick-out dominates, with up to ∼60% contribution at 1 Pa. For metallic targets the kick-out is mainly due to metal atoms sputtered from the target, while for the graphite target the small kick-out contribution is mainly due to kick-out by hot argon atoms and to a smaller extent by carbon atoms. The main factors determining the relative contribution of the kick-out by the sputtered species to working gas rarefaction appear to be the sputter yield and the working gas pressure.

The high power impulse magnetron sputtering (HiPIMS) discharge brings about increased ionization of the sputtered atoms due to an increased electron density and efficient electron energization during the active period of the pulse. The ionization is effective mainly within the electron trapping zone, an ionization region (IR), defined by the magnet configuration. Here, the average extension and the volume of the IR are determined based on measuring the optical emission from an excited level of the argon working gas atoms. For particular HiPIMS conditions, argon species ionization and excitation processes are assumed to be proportional. Hence, the light emission from certain excited atoms is assumed to reflect the IR extension. The light emission was recorded above a 100 mm diameter titanium target through a 763 nm bandpass filter using a gated camera. The recorded images directly indicate the effect of the magnet configuration on the average IR size. It is observed that the shape of the IR matches the shape of the magnetic field lines rather well. The IR is found to expand from 10 and 17 mm from the target surface when the parallel magnetic field strength 11 mm above the racetrack is lowered from 24 to 12 mT at a constant peak discharge current.

In magnetron sputtering, only a fraction of the sputtered target material leaving the ionization region is directed toward the substrate. This fraction may be different for ions and neutrals of the target material as the neutrals and ions can exhibit a different spread as they travel from the target surface toward the substrate. This difference can be significant in high power impulse magnetron sputtering (HiPIMS) where a substantial fraction of the sputtered material is known to be ionized. Geometrical factors or transport parameters that account for the loss of produced film-forming species to the chamber walls are needed for experimental characterization and modeling of the magnetron sputtering discharge. Here, we experimentally determine transport parameters for ions and neutral atoms in a HiPIMS discharge with a titanium target for various magnet configurations. Transport parameters are determined to a typical substrate, with the same diameter (100 mm) as the cathode target, and located at a distance 70 mm from the target surface. As the magnet configuration and/or the discharge current are changed, the transport parameter for neutral atoms xi(tn) remains roughly the same, while transport parameters for ions xi(ti) vary greatly. Furthermore, the relative ion-to-neutral transport factors, xi(ti)/xi(tn), that describe the relative deposited fractions of target material ions and neutrals onto the substrate, are determined to be in the range from 0.4 to 1.1.

The magnetic field is a key feature that distinguishes magnetron sputtering from simple diode sputtering. It effectively increases the residence time of electrons close to the cathode surface and by that increases the energy efficiency of the discharge. This becomes apparent in high power impulse magnetron sputtering (HiPIMS) discharges, as small changes in the magnetic field can result in large variations in the discharge characteristics, notably the peak discharge current and/or the discharge voltage during a pulse. Here, we analyze the influence of the magnetic field on the electron density and temperature, how the discharge voltage is split between the cathode sheath and the ionization region, and the electron heating mechanism in a HiPIMS discharge. We relate the results to the energy efficiency of the discharge and discuss them in terms of the probability of target species ionization. The energy efficiency of the discharge is related to the fraction of pulse power absorbed by the electrons. Ohmic heating of electrons in the ionization region leads to higher energy efficiency than electron energization in the sheath. We find that the electron density and ionization probability of the sputtered species depend largely on the discharge current. The results suggest ways to adjust electron density and electron temperature using the discharge current and the magnetic field, respectively, and how they influence the ionization probability.

The ionization region model (IRM) is applied to model a high power impulse magnetron sputtering discharge with a tungsten target. The IRM gives the temporal variation of the various species and the average electron energy, as well as internal discharge parameters such as the ionization probability and the back-attraction probability of the sputtered species. It is shown that an initial peak in the discharge current is due to argon ions bombarding the cathode target. After the initial peak, the W+ ions become the dominating ions and remain as such to the end of the pulse. We demonstrate how the contribution of the W+ ions to the total discharge current at the target surface increases with increased discharge voltage for peak discharge current densities J (D,peak) in the range 0.33-0.73 A cm(-2). For the sputtered tungsten the ionization probability increases, while the back-attraction probability decreases with increasing discharge voltage. Furthermore, we discuss the findings in terms of the generalized recycling model and compare to experimentally determined deposition rates and find good agreement.

Population densities of excited states of argon atoms in a high power impulse magnetron sputtering (HiPIMS) discharge are examined using a global discharge model and a collisional-radiative model. Here, the ionization region model (IRM) and the Orsay Boltzmann equation for electrons coupled with ionization and excited states kinetics (OBELIX) model are combined to obtain the population densities of the excited levels of the argon atom in a HiPIMS discharge. The IRM is a global plasma chemistry model based on particle and energy conservation of HiPIMS discharges. OBELIX is a collisional-radiative model where the electron energy distribution is calculated self-consistently from an isotropic Boltzmann equation. The collisional model constitutes 65 individual and effective excited levels of the argon atom. We demonstrate that the reduced population density of high-lying excited argon states scales with (p*)(-6), where p * is the effective quantum number, indicating the presence of a multistep ladder-like excitation scheme, also called an excitation saturation. The reason for this is the dominance of electron impact processes in the population and de-population of high-lying argon states in combination with a negligible electron-ion recombination.

Magnetron sputtering combines a glow discharge with sputtering from a target that simultaneously serves as a cathode for the discharge. The electrons of the discharge are confined between overarching magnetic field lines and the negatively biased cathode. As the target erodes during the sputter process, the magnetic field strengthens in the cathode vicinity, which can influence discharge parameters with the risk of impairing reproducibility of the deposition process over time. This is of particular concern for high-power impulse magnetron sputtering (HiPIMS) as the discharge current and voltage waveforms vary strongly with the magnetic field strength. We here discuss ways to limit the detrimental effect of target erosion on the film deposition process by choosing an appropriate mode of operation for the discharge. The goal is to limit variations of two principal flux parameters, the deposition rate and the ionized flux fraction. As an outcome of the discussion, we recommend operating HiPIMS discharges by maintaining the peak discharge current constant.

The possibility to optimize a high-power impulse magnetron sputtering (HiPIMS) discharge through mixing two different power levels in the pulse pattern is investigated. Standard HiPIMS pulses are used to create the ions of the film-forming material. After each HiPIMS pulse an off-time follows, during which no voltage (or, optionally, a reversed voltage) is applied, letting the remaining ions in the magnetic trap escape towards the substrate. After these off-times, a long second pulse with lower amplitude, in the dc magnetron sputtering range, is applied. During this pulse, which is continued up to the following HiPIMS pulse, mainly neutrals of the film-forming material are produced. This pulse pattern makes it possible to achieve separate optimization of the ion production, and of the neutral atom production, that constitute the film-forming flux to the substrate. The optimization process is thereby separated into two sub-problems. The first sub-problem concerns minimizing the energy cost for ion production, and the second sub-problem deals with how to best split a given allowed discharge power between ion production and neutral production. The optimum power split is decided by the lowest ionized flux fraction that gives the desired film properties for a specific application. For the first sub-problem we describe a method where optimization is achieved by the selection of five process parameters: the HiPIMS pulse amplitude, the HiPIMS pulse length, the off-time, the working gas pressure, and the magnetic field strength. For the second sub-problem, the splitting of power between ion and neutral production, optimization is achieved by the selection of the values of two remaining process parameters, the HiPIMS pulse repetition frequency and the discharge voltage of the low-power pulse.

The ionization region model (IRM) is applied to model a high power impulse magnetron sputtering discharge in argon with a graphite target. Using the IRM, the temporal variation of the various species and the average electron energy, as well as internal parameters such as the ionization probability, back-attraction probability, and the ionized flux fraction of the sputtered species, is determined. It is found that thedischarge develops into working gas recycling and most of the discharge current at the cathode target surface is composed of Ar+ ions, which constitute over 90% of the discharge current, while the contribution of the C+ ions is always small (<5%), even for peak current densities close to 3 A cm(-2). For the target species, the time-averaged ionization probability <alpha(t,pulse)> is low, or 13-27%, the ion back-attraction probability during the pulse <beta(t,pulse)> is high (>92%), and the ionized flux fraction is about 2%. It is concluded that in the operation range studied here it is a challenge to ionize carbon atoms, that are sputtered off of a graphite target in a magnetron sputtering discharge, when depositing amorphous carbon films.