[1B01-05] Sputtering and Plasma Processes 

3:45 PM - 4:00 PM JST(6:45 AM - 7:00 AM UTC)

[1B05] Gas pressure and duty ratio dependences of target erosion profile shape in high-power pulsed magnetron sputtering

*Takeo Nakano¹, Ryosuke Matoba¹, Keren Lin¹ (1. Dept. of Science and Technology, Seikei University (Japan))

High-power pulsed magnetron sputtering (HPPMS or HiPIMS) produces a high-density plasma by concentrating discharge power into short pulses with a low duty ratio. The resulting plasma can expand beyond the region of strong magnetic confinement, broadening the target current-density distribution. We previously investigated target erosion-profile evolution in HPPMS and found that the erosion track broadened as the duty ratio decreased from 10% to 5.0% and 2.5% under constant time-averaged power. In the present study, we examined the gas-pressure dependence of erosion-profile evolution. Cu targets were sputtered at Ar pressures of 0.5, 1.0, and 2.0 Pa with a duty ratio of 5.0%. In contrast to dc magnetron sputtering, the HPPMS erosion profiles and their width evolution showed relatively weak pressure dependence. This suggests that target bombardment in HPPMS is governed by processes different from those in dc magnetron sputtering.

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