PLANAR MAGNETRON WITH ADDITIONAL PLASMA-CONFINEMENT

This paper reports on a small, planar, circular magnetron with target of 60 mm diameter for low pressure sputtering of thin films. A stable discharge can be sustained in the case when the plasma confinement nea r the target surface is improved by means of an assembly of permanent magnets placed above the target. It is shown that the polarity of perm anent magnets plays a crucial role in the plasma confinement The plasm a confinement is characterized by measurements of the pressures for th e sputtering discharge ignition p(st) and extinction p(ex). The discha rge characteristics of this magnetron were measured in detail. Also, i t is shown that the efficiency of the target utilization increases con siderably at pressures below 0.1 Pa. At argon pressures of about 0.05 Pa and lower, target utilization greater than 80% can be reached.