SPUTTERING RATES AND NANOSCALE CLUSTER PRODUCTION IN A HOLLOW-CATHODEAPPARATUS

By combining a hollow-cathode plasma sputter device with the gas aggre gation technique, an intense source of nanoscale metal clusters has be en developed. Net sputtering rates have been measured as a function of pressure, flow velocity, electric current and cathode geometry, and i n most instances they were found to behave differently than their plan ar-electrode sputtering counterparts. Deposition rates on substrates l ocated away from the hot plasma region have been also measured. Cluste rs of Cu, Ag, Au and Ta have been produced and their size has been det ermined via XRD and TEM. The size of Cu-n clusters is found to in crea se with the sputter source discharge current.