Magnetron sputtering is a widely used process for thin-film deposition, employed in laboratory research and industry. It is based on a low-pressure plasma discharge in which ions of a working gas, typically argon, are created and accelerated toward a target containing the source material. Sputtering from the target releases target atoms into the gas phase that can condense on a substrate to form a thin film. High-power impulse magnetron sputtering (HiPIMS) achieves high discharge current densities by pulsing the discharge at a low duty cycle. This process generates a dense plasma region through which sputtered atoms pass with a high probability of becoming ionized. The resulting highly ionized flux of film-forming species enables for example the deposition of dense, crystalline and well-adhering thin films.
Part of ISBN 979-8-3315-4376-1
QC 20260306