Time-resolved ion mass spectrometry is used to analyze the type and the energy of metal-ion fluxes during hybrid high-power impulse/direct-current magnetron co-sputtering (HiPIMS/DCMS) in Ar. The study focuses on the effect of HiPIMS plasma plumes on the cross-ionization of the material flux sputtered from the DCMS source. Al, Si, Ti, and Hf elemental targets are used to investigate the effect of the metal’s first ionization potential and mass on the extent of cross-ionization. It is demonstrated that the interaction with HiPIMS plasma results in the significant ionization of the material flux sputtered from the DCMS source. Experiments conducted with elements of similar mass but having different values, Si and Al (Si-HiPIMS/Al-DCMS and Al-HiPIMS/Si-DCMS) reveal that the ionization of the DCMS flux is favored if the sputtered element has lower ionization potential than the one operating in the HiPIMS mode. If elements having similar are used on both sources, the metal mass becomes a decisive parameter as evidenced by experiments involving Ti and Hf (Ti-HiPIMS/Hf-DCMS and Hf-HiPIMS/Ti-DCMS). In such a case, Ti+ fluxes during Hf-HiPIMS/Ti-DCMS may even exceed Hf+ fluxes from the HiPIMS cathode and are much stronger than Hf+ fluxes during Ti-HiPIMS/Hf-DCMS. The latter effect can be explained by the fact that heavier Hf+ ions require longer transit time from the ionization zone to the substrate, which effectively increases the probability of interaction between the Hf-HiPIMS plasma plume and the Ti-DCMS flux, thereby leading to higher Ti ionization. Thus, the common notion of low ionization levels associated with DCMS has to be revised if DCMS is used together with highly ionized plasmas such as HiPIMS operating at higher peak target currents. These results are particularly important for the film growth in the hybrid configuration with substrate bias pulses synchronized to specific ion types.
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March 2024
Research Article|
January 26 2024
Cross-ionization of the sputtered flux during hybrid high power impulse/direct-current magnetron co-sputtering
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Viktor Šroba
;
Viktor Šroba
(Conceptualization, Data curation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Methodology, Validation, Visualization, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing)
1
Department of Experimental Physics, Faculty of Mathematics, Physics and Informatics, Comenius University in Bratislava
, Mlynská Dolina F2, Bratislava 842 48, Slovakia
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Katarína Viskupová
;
Katarína Viskupová
a)
(Conceptualization, Data curation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Methodology, Validation, Visualization, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing)
1
Department of Experimental Physics, Faculty of Mathematics, Physics and Informatics, Comenius University in Bratislava
, Mlynská Dolina F2, Bratislava 842 48, Slovakia
a)Electronic mail: [email protected]
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Bartosz Wicher
;
Bartosz Wicher
(Data curation, Formal analysis, Writing – review & editing)
2
Thin Film Physics Division, Department of Physics (IFM), Linköping University
, Linköping SE-581 83, Sweden
3
Faculty of Materials Science and Engineering, Warsaw University of Technology
, 141 Woloska St., 02-507 Warsaw, Poland
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Vladyslav Rogoz
;
Vladyslav Rogoz
(Data curation, Formal analysis, Writing – review & editing)
2
Thin Film Physics Division, Department of Physics (IFM), Linköping University
, Linköping SE-581 83, Sweden
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Xiao Li
;
Xiao Li
(Data curation, Formal analysis, Writing – review & editing)
2
Thin Film Physics Division, Department of Physics (IFM), Linköping University
, Linköping SE-581 83, Sweden
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Marián Mikula
;
Marián Mikula
(Funding acquisition, Project administration, Resources, Supervision, Writing – review & editing)
1
Department of Experimental Physics, Faculty of Mathematics, Physics and Informatics, Comenius University in Bratislava
, Mlynská Dolina F2, Bratislava 842 48, Slovakia
4
Institute of Materials and Machine Mechanics, Slovak Academy of Sciences
, Dúbravská cesta 9, Bratislava 845 11, Slovakia
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Grzegorz Greczynski
Grzegorz Greczynski
(Conceptualization, Funding acquisition, Investigation, Methodology, Project administration, Resources, Supervision, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing)
2
Thin Film Physics Division, Department of Physics (IFM), Linköping University
, Linköping SE-581 83, Sweden
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Viktor Šroba
1
Katarína Viskupová
1,a)
Bartosz Wicher
2,3
Vladyslav Rogoz
2
Xiao Li
2
Marián Mikula
1,4
Grzegorz Greczynski
2
1
Department of Experimental Physics, Faculty of Mathematics, Physics and Informatics, Comenius University in Bratislava
, Mlynská Dolina F2, Bratislava 842 48, Slovakia
2
Thin Film Physics Division, Department of Physics (IFM), Linköping University
, Linköping SE-581 83, Sweden
3
Faculty of Materials Science and Engineering, Warsaw University of Technology
, 141 Woloska St., 02-507 Warsaw, Poland
4
Institute of Materials and Machine Mechanics, Slovak Academy of Sciences
, Dúbravská cesta 9, Bratislava 845 11, Slovakia
a)Electronic mail: [email protected]
J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A 42, 023410 (2024)
Article history
Received:
October 30 2023
Accepted:
December 26 2023
Citation
Viktor Šroba, Katarína Viskupová, Bartosz Wicher, Vladyslav Rogoz, Xiao Li, Marián Mikula, Grzegorz Greczynski; Cross-ionization of the sputtered flux during hybrid high power impulse/direct-current magnetron co-sputtering. J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A 1 March 2024; 42 (2): 023410. https://doi.org/10.1116/6.0003258
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