Thermoelectronic emission in magnetron sputtering of a hot target

The aim of this work is to study the effect of the lateral distribution of the surface temperature of a hot balanced magnetron target on its current-voltage characteristic. The study is based on the analysis of the results of measuring the current-voltage characteristics of a balanced magnetron with a diameter of 130 mm with a hot titanium target sputtered in an inert medium. It was found that, regardless of the working gas pressure, an increase in current causes a transition of the discharge to the arc stage. The reason for this effect is an increase in thermionic emission to a significant level. A differential technique was used to model the emission process. It is based on the known lateral distribution of the target temperature, for the numerical evaluation of which the Heat Transfer module of the COMSOL Multiphysics package was used. The work relates to fundamental studies of a DC gas discharge with a hot cathode on which a magnetic field is applied. The results obtained can find practical application in the development of a technology for depositing films of metals and their alloys.

Authors: V. I. Shapovalov, D. S. Sharkovskii

Direction: Physics

Keywords: magnetron, hot target, titanium, volt-ampere characteristic, thermionic emission, glow discharge, arc discharge

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