Effect of E × B electron drift and plasma discharge in dc magnetron sputtering plasma

Study of electron drift velocity caused by Etimes B motion is done with the help of a Mach probe in a dc cylindrical magnetron sputtering system at different plasma discharge parameters like discharge voltage, gas pressure and applied magnetic field strength. The interplay of the electron drift with the different discharge parameters has been investigated. Strong radial variation of the electron drift velocity is observed and is found to be maximum near the cathode and it decreases slowly with the increase of radial distance from the cathode. The sheath electric field, E measured experimentally from potential profile curve using an emissive probe is contributed to the observed radial variation of the electron drift velocity. The measured values of the drift velocities are also compared with the values from the conventional theory using the experimental values of electric and magnetic fields. This study of the drift velocity variation is helpful in providing a useful insight for determining the discharge conditions and parameters for sputter deposition of thin film.     

Dusty photoresonant plasma with coulomb collisions

We have studied the charging of dust particles in a dense photoresonant sodium plasma with electron and ion densities as high as 10¹⁶ cm^?3 produced by laser pumping of the resonance level of Na, which was a small admixture (up to 1%) in an argon buffer gas. We show that the charge of dust particles with a radius of 10 mm at maximum reaches 3 × 10⁵ electron charges and that the potential of the dust particles at a low electron bulk loss rate agrees well with the orbital motion limited (OML) model data. The behavior of the electric field near a dust particle was found to be nonmonotonic. We established that the distribution of the potential near a solitary charged dust particle agrees well with the Debye one, but the screening length proves to be much larger than even the electron Debye length; the discrepancies are largest at the afterglow stage of the photoresonant plasma, when the sodium ion with a low recombination coefficient is the main plasma ion. We determined the domain of parameters for a dense plasma where an ensemble of dust particles can crystallize.     

高压耦合高功率脉冲磁控溅射的增强放电效应

等离子体源离子注入与沉积技术作为一种可生产高结合力、高致密度涂层的真空镀膜技术,具有广阔的应用前景,尤其适用于高载荷工况下服役的功能涂层制备.该技术中金属等离子体源是关键,而现有的脉冲阴极弧源结构复杂,且由于伴随"金属液滴"而需要增加过滤装置.本文研究了另一种简单结构的金属等离子体源备选一高功率脉冲磁控溅射源(HPPMS)的放电特性,采用等离子体发射光谱仪探索了不同的耦合高压对HPPMS放电靶电流特性和等离子体特性的作用.发现耦合高压对HPPMS放电有明显的促进作用,相同靶电压下的放电强度大幅增加,相对于金属放电,耦合高压对气体放电的促进作用更加明显,但在自溅射为主的高压放电阶段对金属放电的促进作用明显增强.讨论了耦合高压对HPPMS放电的增强机制,发现耦合高压自辉光放电、耦合高压和HPPMS电压构成双向负压形成的空心阴极效应,以及耦合高压鞘层改善的双极扩散效应都对HPPMS放电的增强有明显作用.     

Hollow-cathode magnetron discharge as a generator of charged particles

A magnetron discharge with a cold hollow cathode and an uncooled rod cathode is studied. It is shown that such a discharge can be efficiently used to generate a plasma emitting charged particles. For a discharge current of 2 A and an accelerating voltage of 10 kV, ion and electron emission currents of 0.1–0.15 and 1 A, respectively, are achieved. The energy cost of ion extraction is 1–2 W/mA, which is two to five times less than for typical ion sources, and the energy efficiency is 15 mA/W, which is a factor of five or six higher than for electron emitters based on a hollow-cathode reflex discharge.     

非平衡磁控溅射系统离子束流磁镜效应模型

为了研究非平衡磁控溅射沉积系统的等离子体特性，采用常规磁控溅射靶和同轴约束磁场构成非平衡磁控溅射沉积系统.在放电空间不同的轴向位置，Ar放电，02Pa和150V偏压条件下，采用圆形平面离子收集电极，测量不同约束磁场条件下的饱和离子束流密度.研究结果表明，在同轴磁场作用下，收集电极的离子束流密度能达到饱和值9mA/cm2左右，有利于在沉积薄膜的过程中产生离子轰击效应.根据磁流体理论分析了同轴约束磁场形成的磁镜效应和对放电过程的影响机理.实验与模型计算结果的比较表明，模型从理论上表达了同轴磁场约束对非平衡磁控溅射等离子体特性的影响规律. 关键词： 等离子体 金属薄膜/非磁性 磁控溅射 磁镜     

Detailed comparison between probe density measurements of glow discharge in argon and in helium

In this article we shall look a bit more closely at some of the fundamental plasma parameters obtained by a cylindrical Langmuir probe within low-pressure electrical gas discharge plasma. The presented measurements were made in argon and in helium glow discharge plasmas. We are mainly concerned with the densities of the charged particles (electrons and ions) within the plasma and the effect of the discharge conditions upon them. The electron density is calculated from the electron current at the space potential and from the integration over the EEDF. The ion density is calculated by using the OML collisionless theory. The parameterization of Laframboise's numerical results is also used for the ion density calculation. In the range of our experimental conditions the results of plasma density, for both gases, tend to show that the ion densities measured with the OML and Laframboise theories exceeds the measured electron densities. The results also show that the plasma electron and ion densities increased with both discharge power and gas pressure.     

Particle‐in‐cell/Monte Carlo simulation of electron and ion currents to cylindrical Langmuir probe

Electron and ion currents to a cylindrical Langmuir (electrostatic) probe were calculated using the particle‐in‐cell/Monte Carlo (PIC/MC) self‐consistent simulation for a neutral gas in the pressure range 2–3,000 Pa. The simulation enables us to calculate the probe currents even at high neutral gas pressures when the collisions of collected charged particles with neutral gas particles near the probe are important. The main aim of this paper is the calculation of probe currents at such high gas pressures and the comparison of the results with experimentally measured probe currents. Simulations were performed for two cases: (a) probes with varying radii in a non‐thermal plasma with high electron temperature at low neutral gas pressure of 2 Pa (in order to verify the correctness of our simulations), and (b) probe with the radius of 10 μm in the afterglow plasma with low electron temperature and a higher neutral gas pressure (up to 3,000 Pa). The electron probe currents obtained in case (a) show good agreement with those predicted by the orbital motion limited current (OMLC) theory for probes with radii up to 100 μm for the given plasma conditions. At larger probe radii and/or at higher probe voltages, the OMLC theory incorrectly predicts too high an electron probe current for the plasma parameters studied. Additionally, a formula describing the spatial dependence of the electron density in the presheath in the collisionless case is derived. The simulation at higher neutral gas pressures, i.e. case (b), shows a decrease of the electron probe current with increasing gas pressure and the creation of a large presheath around the probe. The simulated electron probe currents are compared with those of measurements by other authors, and the differences are discussed.     

Collective Phenomena in Strongly Coupled Dissipative Systems of Charged Dust: from Ground to Microgravity Experiments

In present work the formation of dusty plasma structures in cryogenic glow dc discharge was investigated. The ordered structures from large number (～10⁴) of charged diamagnetic dust particles in a cusp magnetic trap have been also studied in microgravity conditions. The super high charging (up to 5·10⁷e) of dust macroparticles under direct stimulation by an electron beam is experimentally performed and investigated. The results of the investigation of Brownian motion for strongly coupled dust particles in plasma are presented. (© 2013 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

COmparison of Some Basic Plasma Parameters and Discharge Characteristics of Planar Magnetron Sputtering Discharges in Argon and Neon

A comparative investigation is carried out of the discharge characteristics (current-voltage characteristic and dependence of the running voltage on the gas pressure at constant discharge current), as well as of some plasma parameters (electron temperature, floating potential and plasma potential) and densities of the ion current extracted to the substrate, for discharges in neon and argon in a planar magnetron system for sputtering with a graphite target.     

电子回旋共振放电电离特性的PIC/MCC模拟

A theoretical and computational model is presented to study the ionization of the argon electron cyclotron resonance(ECR)microwave discharge using a quasi-three-dimensional electromagnetic particle-in- cell plus Monte Carlo collision method.The interaction between the charged particles and microwave fields are described by the electromagnetic mode of particle-in-cell method.The collision processes are treated with Monte Carlo method.The simulation code is the original work.The results of the particle simulation for the ECR discharge of argon gas which include the microscopic features of charged particles and the electromagnetic characteristics of the ECR discharge plasma,and also the transient phenomena have been presented.     

The repetitive microwave discharge as a catalyst for a chemical reaction

Results are presented from studies on plasma catalysis of the decomposition of methane into hydrogen and carbon in a repetitive microwave discharge. The dependence of the propagation velocity of a plasma channel on the sort of gas is determined; from this dependence, a preliminary conclusion can be drawn about both the mechanism for the development of the discharge and the ion composition of the discharge plasma. The measurements of the electron temperature in the discharge show that the rate at which active particles are produced is high enough to explain the acceleration of a chemical reaction by chain processes with the participation of these particles.     

闭合磁场的作用原理与布局逻辑

采用非平衡磁控溅射阴极在镀膜区间构建闭合磁场已经成为设计开发磁控溅射真空镀膜系统的通用手段,然而闭合磁场具体的作用对象、作用机制、闭合条件、布局逻辑以及作用效果等仍没有定量的判定标准或设计依据.本文从带电粒子在磁场中的运动出发,推导了真空室内电子与离子运动行为,得出闭合磁场的作用机制,并依此研究了磁控溅射阴极和离子源布局方式对电子约束效果和沉积效率的影响.结果表明,闭合磁场在真空室中主要通过约束电子来约束等离子体,进而减少系统内电子损失;阴极数量和真空室尺寸对闭合磁场的作用效果有重要影响.提出在真空室中央增加对偶离子源,研究了闭合磁场中阴极类型、旋转角度和磁场方向对电子的约束作用,发现当离子源正对阴极相斥或相吸时,真空室内分别形成了局部高密度和均匀连续的两种等离子体分布特征,边缘电子溢出比均低于3%,镀膜区的电子占比相对无对偶离子源时分别提高到53.41%和42.25%.     

Dielectric linear response of magnetized electrons: Drag force on ions

The drag force on ions moving in a magnetized electron plasma is calculated in dielectric linear response. Various representations of the dielectric function ε(k, ω) are investigated for their suitability to display the limits for an infinite and a vanishing magnetic field. While the influence of the magnetic field is negligible in certain regions of k-space, it introduces in other regions a strong oscillatory structure in the dielectric function. This requires a careful treatment of the multidimensional integrations necessary for the drag force. The contributions from oscillatory integrands are treated by the saddle point method. Explicit results are obtained for the dependence of the drag force on the magnetic field, the direction of motion of the ion relative to the magnetic field, the shielding in the electron plasma, its density and the anisotropy of the electron temperature. The importance of the collective response of the electrons is investigated for limiting cases of the magnetic field. The validity of the linearization of the dielectric theory is checked by comparison with results obtained by numerical simulation of the nonlinear Vlasov-Poisson equation. For strong magnetic fields and low ion velocities, the simulations rather agree with the complementary binary collision model than with linear response.     

Kinetics of charged particles in a high-voltage gas discharge in a nonuniform electrostatic field

A high-voltage gas discharge is of interest as a possible means of generating directed flows of low-temperature plasma in the off-electrode space distinguished by its original features [1–4]. We propose a model for calculating the trajectories of charges particles in a high-voltage gas discharge in nitrogen at a pressure of 0.15 Torr existing in a nonuniform electrostatic field and the strength of this field. Based on the results of our calculations, we supplement and refine the extensive experimental data concerning the investigation of such a discharge published in [1, 2, 5–8]; good agreement between the theory and experiment has been achieved. The discharge burning is initiated and maintained through bulk electron-impact ionization and ion–electron emission. We have determined the sizes of the cathode surface regions responsible for these processes, including the sizes of the axial zone involved in the discharge generation. The main effect determining the kinetics of charged particles consists in a sharp decrease in the strength of the field under consideration outside the interelectrode space, which allows a free motion of charges with specific energies and trajectories to be generated in it. The simulation results confirm that complex electrode systems that allow directed plasma flows to be generated at a discharge current of hundreds or thousands of milliamperes and a voltage on the electrodes of 0.3–1 kV can be implemented in practice [3, 9, 10].     

Coaxial Discharge and Transverse Magnetic Field

The study deals with the effect of an applied transverse magnetic field on the dynamics and parameters of the focused and expanded plasma in a coaxial discharge. The experimental results were found with a 3 kJ Plasma focus device of a Mather geometry. The discharge takes place in hydrogen gas with base pressure of 0.5 Torr. The experiments are conducted with a 10 kV bank voltage, which corresponds to 100 kA peak discharge current with rise time 8 μs. Helmholtz magnetic coils are placed outside the expansions chamber to produce a transverse magnetic field with intensity 280 G perpendicular to the plasma expanded from the coaxial electrodes. The investigations have shown that the plasma flow along the expansion chamber axis is restricted when applying the externally transverse magnetic field and the maximum axial velocity of the expanded plasma is decreased by 33%. X-ray probe has been used to measure the focused plasma electron temperature (T_e). The experimental results and the calculations showed that T_e is decreased from 2.2 keV to 800 eV with the application of a transverse magnetic field. The expanded plasma electron temperature and density have been measured by an electric double probe, the results cleared that the expanded plasma electron temperature is decreased by 2.6 times while its density is increased by 9 times, when a transverse magnetic field is applied.     

Study of hysteresis behavior in reactive sputtering of cylindrical magnetron plasma

In order to make sufficient use of reactive cylindrical magnetron plasma for depositing compound thin films, it is necessary to characterize the hysteresis behavior of the discharge. Cylindrical magnetron plasmas with different targets namely titanium and aluminium are studied in an argon/oxygen and an argon/nitrogen gas environment respectively. The aluminium and titanium emission lines are observed at different flows of reactive gases. The emission intensity is found to decrease with the increase of the reactive gas flow rate. The hysteresis behavior of reactive cylindrical magnetron plasma is studied by determining the variation of discharge voltage with increasing and then reducing the flow rate of reactive gas,while keeping the discharge current constant at 100 m A. Distinct hysteresis is found to be formed for the aluminium target and reactive gas oxygen. For aluminium/nitrogen, titanium/oxygen and titanium/nitrogen, there is also an indication of the formation of hysteresis; however, the characteristics of variation from metallic to reactive mode are different in different cases. The hysteresis behaviors are different for aluminium and titanium targets with the oxygen and nitrogen reactive gases, signifying the difference in reactivity between them. The effects of the argon flow rate and magnetic field on the hysteresis are studied and explained.     

Characteristics of the NASA Lewis Bumpy Torus Plasma Generated with Positive Applied Potentials

Experimental observations have been made during steady-state operation of the NASA Lewis Bumpy Torus experiment at input powers up to 150 kW in deuterium and helium gas, and with positive potentials applied to the midplane electrodes. This steady-state ion heating method utilizes a modified Penning discharge operated in a bumpy torus confinement geometry such that the plasma is acted upon by a combination of strong electric and magnetic fields. Experimental investigation of a deuterium plasma revealed electron temperatures from 14 to 140 eV and ion kinetic temperatures from 160 to 1785 eV. At least two distinct modes of operation exist, each of which is associated with a characteristic range of background pressure and electron temperature. Experimental data show that the average ion residence time in the plasma is virtually independent of the magnetic field strength.     

Electrolytic capacitor cathode foil finishing by ion-plasma methods

The results from investigations of TiN protective coatings formed on nanostructured cathode foil by means of plasma magnetron technologies and under irradiation by nitrogen plasma of a high-frequency inductive (HFI) discharge are presented. Their influence on the structure of coatings is demonstrated. Methods for controlling the ion energy and ion flux from an HFI plasma discharge onto a grounded substrate were studied. It was found that such regimes inevitably fail when uninsulated chamber walls and low working gas pressures are used.     

Ion drag forces and magnetomechanical effect

Ion flows (ion drag forces) acting on macroscopic-size particles play a significant role in a plasma containing macroparticles. It is shown that ion drag forces can explain the magnetomechanical effect. The formula is derived for determining the dependence of the moment of the magnetomechanical effect on the type and pressure of the gas, tube radius, current, and magnetic field. This formula is in satisfactory agreement with experimental data for discharges in argon and neon with a relatively low magnetization of electron motion. For a high magnetization, the measured values of the moment of the magnetomechanical effect exceed the calculated values, which can be due to the effect of magnetic field nonuniformity and inhomogeneity of the plasma near the solenoid ends.     

Influence of the Emission of Charged Particles on the Characteristics of Glow Discharges with Oscillating Electrons

The influence of the extraction of charged particles on the conditions of sustaining and the characteristics of a glow discharge with oscillating electrons is considered. It is shown that there is some pressure-dependent optimum level for the extraction of ions at which the energy efficiency of the ion source reaches a maximum. Experimentally, it has been established that the sustaining of a discharge is adversely affected by the run-off of fast ionizing electrons from the discharge, whereas the emission of slow plasma electrons can facilitate the sustaining of the high-current variety of discharge and even lead to a stabilization of an unstable gas-discharge structure. It has been shown that due to the different character of the spatial distributions of fast and slow particles in discharges with electrons oscillating in a magnetic field it is possible to realize highly efficient electron emission without loss of discharge stability by extracting electrons from the near-anode region.