Abstract The electron series resonance (ESR) excited in the 27.12 MHz magnetron sputtering discharge was investigated. By analyzing the discharge impedances, the imaginary part of impedance was found to undergo a transition from capacitive to inductive on varying RF power, and the conditions for ESR excited was satisfied at the 27.12 MHz magnetron sputtering. By analyzing the discharge current and its higher order harmonics, the near-sinusoidal current waveform and the weak 2nd order harmonic were obtained, showing a weak nonlinear effect of RF current. However, for the magnetron sputtering discharge, the non-uniform magnetic field has a significant effect on the sheath width and the transverse current, making the sheath thinner and the transverse current smaller. As a result, the small capacitive reactance was obtained and the inductive reactance was easily cancelled. Therefore, the electron series resonance excited in the 27.12 MHz magnetron sputtering was caused together by the strong effect of non-uniform magnetic field and the weak 2nd (H2) order current harmonic. By estimating the ESR frequency res,B, the 2nd order current harmonic (54.24 Hz) was found to be responsible for the ESR excitation.
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