The influence of superimposed DC current on electrical and spectroscopic characteristics of HiPIMS discharge
Xiao Zuo,
Rende Chen,
Jingzhou Liu,
Peiling Ke,
Aiying Wang
Affiliations
Xiao Zuo
Key Laboratory of Marine Materials and Related Technologies, Zhejiang Key Laboratory of Marine Materials and Protective Technologies, Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Ningbo 315201, China
Rende Chen
Key Laboratory of Marine Materials and Related Technologies, Zhejiang Key Laboratory of Marine Materials and Protective Technologies, Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Ningbo 315201, China
Jingzhou Liu
Key Laboratory of Marine Materials and Related Technologies, Zhejiang Key Laboratory of Marine Materials and Protective Technologies, Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Ningbo 315201, China
Peiling Ke
Key Laboratory of Marine Materials and Related Technologies, Zhejiang Key Laboratory of Marine Materials and Protective Technologies, Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Ningbo 315201, China
Aiying Wang
Key Laboratory of Marine Materials and Related Technologies, Zhejiang Key Laboratory of Marine Materials and Protective Technologies, Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Ningbo 315201, China
The electrical characteristics and spectroscopic properties have been comprehensively investigated in a DC superimposed high power impulse magnetron sputtering (DC-HiPIMS) deposition system in this paper. The influence of superimposed DC current on the variation of target and substrate current waveforms, active species and electron temperatures with pulse voltages are focused. The peak target currents in DC-HiPIMS are lower than in HiPIMS. The time scales of the two main discharge processes like ionization and gas rarefaction in DC-HiPIMS are analyzed. When the pulse voltage is higher than 600 V, the gas rarefaction effect becomes apparent. Overall, the ionization process is found to be dominant in the initial ∼100 μs during each pulse. The active species of Ar and Cr in DC-HiPIMS are higher than in HiPIMS unless that the pulse voltage reaches 900 V. However, the ionization degree in HiPIMS exceeds that in DC-HiPIMS at around 600 V. The electron temperature calculated by modified Boltzmann plot method based on corona model has a precipitous increase from 0.87 to 25.0 eV in HiPIMS, but varies mildly after the introduction of the superimposed DC current. Additionally, the current from plasma flowing to the substrate is improved when a DC current is superimposed with HiPIMS.
