A non-sputtering discharge is utilized to verify the effect of replacement of gas ions by metallic ions and consequent decrease in the secondary electron emission coefficient in the discharge current curves in high-po...A non-sputtering discharge is utilized to verify the effect of replacement of gas ions by metallic ions and consequent decrease in the secondary electron emission coefficient in the discharge current curves in high-power impulse magnetron sputtering (HiPIMS). In the non-sputtering discharge involving hydrogen, replacement of ions is avoided while the rarefaction still contributes. The initial peak and ensuing decay disappear and all the discharge current curves show a similar feature as the HiPIMS discharge of materials with low sputtering yields such as carbon. The results demonstrate the key effect of ion replacement during sputtering.展开更多
基金Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant Nos 51301004 and U1330110the Guangdong Innovative and Entrepreneurial Research Team Program under Grant No 2013N080+1 种基金the Shenzhen Science and Technology Research Grant under Grant Nos JCYJ20140903102215536 and JCYJ20150828093127698the City University of Hong Kong Applied Research Grant under Grant No 9667104
文摘A non-sputtering discharge is utilized to verify the effect of replacement of gas ions by metallic ions and consequent decrease in the secondary electron emission coefficient in the discharge current curves in high-power impulse magnetron sputtering (HiPIMS). In the non-sputtering discharge involving hydrogen, replacement of ions is avoided while the rarefaction still contributes. The initial peak and ensuing decay disappear and all the discharge current curves show a similar feature as the HiPIMS discharge of materials with low sputtering yields such as carbon. The results demonstrate the key effect of ion replacement during sputtering.