Speaker
Description
"Magnetron sputtering (MS) is a common technique used for the production of thin films. In such process, the sputtered ions are ejected from the target material with high kinetic energy and deposited onto the substrate to form the coating. This result in an energy transfer between the bombarding particles and substrate, affecting film growth or crystallization.
While DC and pulse DC are commonly used in MS, new techniques where developed such as High Power Impulse Magnetron sputtering. The latest can be beneficial in coating and interface engineering [1], coating of complex substrates [2], and in tailoring the film properties [3].
Here, we investigate the behaviour of the positive ions formed from a niobium (Nb) target through mass spectrometry using both unipolar and bipolar HiPIMS. The electrical parameters, pressure conditions and characteristic of the reverse positive potential were varied to optimise the ion energy of the species of interest.
Such analysis could potentially help in improving techniques to produce the SRF cavity.
