Abstract
High power impulse magnetron sputtering (HiPIMS) is characterized by a very high current density at the target during each pulse. A large fraction of sputtered target material is ionized, which allows the preparation of hard and defect-free coatings. Compared to the conventional sputtering methods, HiPIMS technology possesses a certain drawback, i.e. lower deposition rate. A promising variation, i.e. reactive HiPIMS, was described by a mathematical model (S. Kadlec, J. Čapek, JAP 121 (2017) 171910). One of the fundamental results shows that reactive HiPIMS can deliver higher deposition rates compared to the mid-frequency pulsed dc magnetron sputtering (Mf-PCDMS) due to a lower degree of target poisoning. To confirm these theoretical results, series of experiments were performed in laboratory deposition system with different target materials (Al, Cr, Ti, Zr, Hf, Ta, Nb). Two targets of the same material were employed both in dual Mf-PDCMS (pulse-on/pulse-off time ratio 45:5 μs) and in dual HiPIMS (pulse-on/pulse-off time ratio 25:725 μs) conditions at a fixed power. We confirmed that higher values of the deposition rate for Ta2O5 and Nb2O5 films can be achieved by HiPIMS when operated in the poisoned regime. Finally, we supported our experimental results by Monte-Carlo simulations performed in SRIM and SDTrimSP simulation software.
Published Version
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