Modeling of magnetron sputtering plasmas

Abstract

Partially ionized, low-temperature plasmas have been used extensively in many areas of technology. These applications of plasma include surface processing and lighting devices. There are three major categories in surface processing: sputtering, etching and surface modification. The examples of lighting device application are light bulbs, lasers and plasma display devices. In this discussion, simulation study of magnetron sputtering system are reviewed and future issues of these systems are discussed. A two-dimensional three-velocity particle-in-cell (PIC) code is used to simulate kinetic plasma properties in a planar magnetron system with realistic magnetic fields in two and three dimensions. Various plasma characteristics and erosion profiles of a target material are obtained with these magnetic fields. Scaling formulas are used in order to estimate the steady-state properties of plasma and reduce computation time. Variations in the geometry and the magnetic field optimize these erosion profiles and plasma characteristics. For the plasma characteristics, we also calculate the plasma temperature and the velocity distribution function. The velocity distribution function of electrons is nearly Maxwellian, while that of ions is non-Maxwellian. The electron temperature in the bulk coincides well with the experimentally measured values. The majority of ions are in the energy range below half of the applied voltage. © 2002 Published by Elsevier Science B.V.