High Power Impulse Magnetron Sputtering (HiPIMS) is a coating technology that combines magnetron sputtering with pulsed power concepts. By applying power in pulses of high amplitude and a relatively low duty cycle, large fractions of sputtered atoms and near-target gases are ionized. In contrast to conventional magnetron sputtering, HiPIMS is characterized by self-sputtering or repeated gas recycling for high and low sputter yield materials, respectively, and both for most intermediate materials. The dense plasma in front of the target has the dual function of sustaining the discharge and providing plasma-assistance to film growth, affecting the microstructure of growing films. Many technologically interesting thin films are compound films, which are composed of one or more metals and a reactive gas, most often oxygen or nitrogen. When reactive gas is added, non-trivial consequences arise for the system because the target may become “poisoned,” i.e., a compound layer forms on the target surface affecting the sputtering yield and the yield of secondary electron emission and thereby all other parameters. It is emphasized that the target state depends not only on the reactive gas' partial pressure (balanced via gas flow and pumping) but also on the ion flux to the target, which can be controlled by pulse parameters. This is a critical technological opportunity for reactive HiPIMS (R-HiPIMS). The scope of this tutorial is focused on plasma processes and mechanisms of operation and only briefly touches upon film properties. It introduces R-HiPIMS in a systematic, step-by-step approach by covering sputtering, magnetron sputtering, reactive magnetron sputtering, pulsed reactive magnetron sputtering, HiPIMS, and finally R-HiPIMS. The tutorial is concluded by considering variations of R-HiPIMS known as modulated pulsed power magnetron sputtering and deep-oscillation magnetron sputtering and combinations of R-HiPIMS with superimposed dc magnetron sputtering.
Skip Nav Destination
Article navigation
7 May 2017
Tutorial|
March 21 2017
Tutorial: Reactive high power impulse magnetron sputtering (R-HiPIMS) Available to Purchase
André Anders
André Anders
a)
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
, 1 Cyclotron Road, Berkeley, California 94720, USA
Search for other works by this author on:
André Anders
a)
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
, 1 Cyclotron Road, Berkeley, California 94720, USA
a)
Email: [email protected]
J. Appl. Phys. 121, 171101 (2017)
Article history
Received:
November 17 2016
Accepted:
February 18 2017
Citation
André Anders; Tutorial: Reactive high power impulse magnetron sputtering (R-HiPIMS). J. Appl. Phys. 7 May 2017; 121 (17): 171101. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4978350
Download citation file:
Pay-Per-View Access
$40.00
Sign In
You could not be signed in. Please check your credentials and make sure you have an active account and try again.
Citing articles via
Re-examination of important defect complexes in silicon: From microelectronics to quantum computing
P. P. Filippatos, A. Chroneos, et al.
Tutorial: Simulating modern magnetic material systems in mumax3
Jonas J. Joos, Pedram Bassirian, et al.
Piezoelectric thin films and their applications in MEMS: A review
Jinpeng Liu, Hua Tan, et al.