Temporal evolution of the radial plasma emissivity profile in HIPIMS plasma discharges

Abstract

High power impulse magnetron sputtering (HIPIMS) is a plasma vapour deposition technique used for deposition of dense coatings. In order to contribute to a better understanding of the dynamics of a HIPIMS plasma discharge, time- and wavelength-resolved measurements of the light emitted from the plasma were performed. Lateral images of the HIPIMS plasma were recorded using an ICCD camera with a gate width of 1s. For each picture, Abel inversion was performed to compute the radial emissivity profile of the plasma. Band-pass interference filters were used to isolate the desired wavelength in order to observe lines of ions and neutrals of metal and argon (Ar) in HIPIMS plasma discharges with an aluminium (Al), titanium (Ti) or chromium (Cr) target in Ar atmosphere. The result is the temporal evolution of the radial emissivity profile of metal and gas neutrals and singly charged ions. © 2012 IOP Publishing Ltd.