Effect of magnetic field strength on deposition rate and energy flux in a dc magnetron sputtering system

Variations in the magnetic field strongly affect the plasma parameters in a magnetron sputtering system. This in turn affects the throughput as well as the energy flux to the substrate. The variation in the magnetic field in this study, for a dc magnetron process, is achieved by shifting the magnet assembly slightly away from the target. Measurements of the plasma parameters show that while the electron density at the substrate increases with decrease in magnetic field, the electron temperature decreases. The cooling of the electron temperature is consistent with results reported elsewhere. The deposition rate per input magnetron power is found to increase slightly with the decrease in magnetic field for the process conditions considered in this study. Results suggest that the energy flux to the substrate tends to show a general decrease with the shift in the magnet assembly. (C) 2009 American Vacuum Society. [DOI: 10.1116/1.3222874]