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This paper presents a new method for driving the magnetron for a sulfur plasma tube using the two‐switch forward converter structure with a phase‐shifting active clamp (1000±40 W, 285 mA, 4 kV). Depending on the output voltage level required, the magnetron driver circuit is boosted and insulated and also has high gain. The use of the two‐switch forward converter reduces the transistor voltage stress. In addition, applying the clamp structure balances the magnetization current. Besides, by controlling the phase shift of the clamp transistor, while maintaining the magnetic current balance of the power transformer, the duty cycle of the main transistors can be increased. This allows more voltage level transfer to the secondary winding of the transformer. Therefore, with a fixed transformer core, more voltage transmission is possible in comparison with a conventional forward converter. Moreover, using the PFC converter improves the power factor and stabilizes the DC‐link voltage. The magnetron driver circuit provides a maximum power of 1 kW with an average power of 125–250 W by adjusting the converter's active time under minimum loss conditions. The magnetron driver circuit provided is validated by the simulation and experimental results.

Magnetron sputtering is widely used for deposition of silicon oxynitride (SiOxNy) coatings on glass in large-area applications. Since repeated deposition simulates the factory-scale in-line processing, amorphous aluminum-doped SiOxNy layers with thickness of about 250 nm were deposited by reactive pulsed DC sputtering in a multi-pass process with repeated linear movement of a glass substrate under an Al-alloyed Si target. Using specular X-ray reflectivity we show periodic fluctuations of the material density throughout the entire thickness of the resulting coating. The number of periods corresponds to the number of passes of the substrate through the plasma of the magnetron. Fitting results suggest a model consistent with a periodic alternation of the O/N ratio. These subtle stoichiometric fluctuations in the SiOxNy layer composition were confirmed by scanning transmission electron microscopy analysis with nanoscale resolution, and with detailed elemental maps of characteristic X-rays of the layered cross-section. Our study demonstrates the superior sensitivity of the relatively simple nondestructive X-ray reflectivity method for industrial line-process inspection compared to ellipsometry.

This work analyses the three-dimensional (3-D) surface texture of carbon-nickel (C-Ni) films grown by radio frequency (RF) magnetron co-sputtering on glass substrates. The C-Ni thin films were deposited under different deposition times, from 50 to 600 s, at room temperature. Atomic force microscopy was employed to characterize the 3-D surface texture data in connection with the statistical, and fractal analyses. It has been found that up to 180 s the sputtering occurs in more metal content mode and in greater than 180 s it occurs in more non-metal content mode. This behavior demonstrated a strong link between the structural and morphological properties of C-Ni composite films and facilitates a deeper understanding of structure/property relationships and surface defects in prepared samples. Furthermore, these findings can be applied to research on the mechanisms to prepare and control high-quality C-Ni films.

An electron effective attenuation length (EAL) of 1.68 nm for Al Kα excited Pd 3d 5/2 photoelectrons with a kinetic energy of 1.152 keV has been determined experimentally using a sputtered Pd film deposited on an ultra flat fused quartz substrate. The film thickness was reduced by Ar ion sputtering several times in order to obtain different Pd film thicknesses which are used to determine experimental EAL values. These results are compared to data generated by using a Simulation of Electron Spectra for Surface Analysis (SESSA) simulation using an inelastic mean free path (IMFP) calculated with the Tanuma–Powell–Penn (TPP)-2M formula and with ‘elastic scattering on and off’. Contributions to the uncertainty budget related to the experimental approach are discussed in detail. Proposals on how to further improve the approach are suggested. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Discharge current voltage (IV) curves are directly measured at the target of a high impulse power magnetron sputtering (HiPIMS) plasma for the target materials aluminium, chromium, titanium and copper. These discharge IV curves have been correlated with ICCD camera images of the plasma torus. A clear connection between the change in the discharge IV curve slopes at specific currents and the appearance of localized ionization zones, so-called spokes, in a HiPIMS plasma is identified. These spokes appear above typical target current densities of 2 A/cm2. The slope of the discharge IV curves, at current densities when spokes are formed, depends on the mass of the target atoms with a higher plasma conductivity for higher mass target materials. This is explained by the momentum transfer from the sputter wind to the argon background gas, which leads to higher plasma densities for heavier target materials. The change in the VI curve slope can be used to identify the spokes regime for HiPIMS plasmas, as being mandatory for deposition of good quality materials by HiPIMS. Consequently, the discharge IV curve slope monitoring can be regarded an essential control approach of any industrial HiPIMS process, where discharge IV curves are much easier accessible compared to more complex diagnostics such as time and space resolved ICCD camera measurements. (© 2016 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

The aim of this study depends on understanding the effect of target-to-substrate distance (DTS) on ZnO thin films deposited by r.f. magnetron sputtering on to glass substrates at room temperature conditions. The DTS was changed from 35 mm to 65 mm with steps of 5 mm at 165 W and 0.2 Pa. The deposition rate of the films were ranged from 76 Ǻ / min to 146 Ǻ / min, while 10-3 Ω.cm was obtained as the resistivity value with the help of four point probe technique. The structural investigations were carried out by using both the x-ray diffraction (XRD) and high resolution transmission electron microscopy. According to XRD observations, the films were (002) oriented. Surface behaviour of the ZnO films was examined with atomic force microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. The root mean square (RMS) values were varied from 4.6 nm to 22.8 nm. Also, optical properties were obtained from UV–visible spectrophotometer and the transmittances as around 80 %. At 45 mm DTS value, the minimum resistivity measured as 9 × 10− 4 Ω.cm with 76 Ǻ / min deposition rate. The RMS was obtained as 4.9 nm and transmission was measured as 85.30 %, while band gap was 3.45 eV.

Gepulste Hochleistungsplasmen (High Power Pulsed Magnetron Sputtering — HPPMS) eignen sich hervorragend zur Synthese von hochwertigen keramischen Schichten, da der Fluss der schichtbildenden Teilchen sehr energiereich ist. Diese besondere Form der Energieverteilung hat ihre Ursache in der Bildung von lokalisierten Ionisationszonen, wie man sie mit schnellen Kameramessungen beobachten kann. In der Praxis sind allerdings nur kostengunstigere Methoden wie Strom-Spannungsmessungen am Target verfugbar. Durch Interpretation der Strom-Spannungskennlinien ist es trotzdem moglich, den richtigen Betriebsmodus eines HPPMS-Plasmas zu finden. Diese Strom-Spannungskennlinien sind je nach Targetmaterial sehr unterschiedlich, zeigen aber eindeutig die Bildung von lokalisierten Ionisationszonen an und damit den optimalen Betriebsmodus eines HPPMS-Plasmas. Control of High Power Pulsed Magnetron Plasmas (HPPMS) by Monitoring Current-Voltage Characteristics High Power Pulsed Magnetron Sputtering (HPPMS) plasmas are perfectly suited for the synthesis of ceramic coatings with superior properties. This excellent performance is induced by the very peculiar energetic particle flux reaching the substrate to be coated. The ion energy distribution originates from the formation of localized ionization zones which can be imaged by fast cameras. In commercial HPPMS reactors, however, only much simpler methods such as current voltage characteristics (VI curves) are accessible. By a proper interpretation of those VI curves, it is possible to identify the favorable operation mode of an HPPMS plasma. The VI curves vary with target material, but they are sensitive to the occurrence of localized ionization zones, which represent the optimum for the operation parameter window of HPPMS plasmas.

In the present study is shown a novel vacuum-based technique that enables production of hard polymeric nanocomposite coatings with metal (Cu) nanoparticles. This method is based on the use of gas aggregation source (GAS) of Cu nanoparticles and plasma-enhanced chemical vapour deposition of a-C:H matrix that was deposited in a mixture of Ar and n-hexane on the substrates placed on the powered RF electrode. This approach makes it possible to control independently both the properties of the matrix by variation of the applied RF power and the amount of incorporated Cu nanoparticles that may be adjusted by operational parameters of the GAS. Characterisation of the films in terms of their chemical composition, morphology, optical and mechanical properties is described here alongside with description of Cu nanoparticles production using GAS with variable aggregation length.

Particle characterization 36, 1900436 - (2019). doi:10.1002/ppsc.201900436, Kinetic aspects of the synthesis of Ag nanoparticles (NPs) by magnetron sputtering are studied by in situ and time-resolved small angle X-ray scat-tering (SAXS). Part of the NPs are found to become confined within a capture zone at 1–10 mm from the surface of the target and circumscribed by the plasma ring. Three regimes of the NP growth are identified: 1) early growth at which the average NP diameter rapidly increases to 90 nm; 2) cycling instabilities at which the SAXS signal periodically fluctuates either due to expelling of large NPs from the capture zone or due to the axial rotation of the NP cloud; and 3) steady-state synthesis at which stable synthesis of the NPs is achieved. The NP confinement within the capture zone is driven by the balance of forces, the electrostatic force being dominant. On reaching the critical size, large NPs acquire an excessive charge and become expelled from the capture zone via the electrostatic interactions. As a result, signifi-cant NP deposits are formed on the inner walls of the aggregation chamber as well as in the central area of the target, Published by Verl. Chemie, Weinheim

This work reports an investigation of the Al-doped ZnO (AZO) film deposition process using ICP assisted DC magnetron plasmas, at different working pressures. The mechanism of plasma formation and plasma properties are analyzed by various diagnostic tools. Data show that there is the presence of low-frequency oscillations in the range of 3–8 MHz, which are expected to be caused by high-frequency waves. It is seen that ICP source is quite capable of producing the high-energy warm electrons that are expected to be produced by the Landau damping. The plasma properties and their role on the electrical and structural properties of the AZO film are carefully studied. This work also reports the deposition of high conductive AZO films with resistivity as low as ∼ 6.8 × 10−4 cm using low-temperature process.

We investigated the electrical performance of Ti–IZO active-channel layer thin-film transistors (TFTs) using a radio frequency (RF) magnetron co-sputtering system to co-sputter IZO and Ti targets. The samples were fabricated by changing the RF gun power of the IZO. The other parameters such as the RF gun power of the Ti target, oxygen partial pressure [O2/(Ar + O2)], and initial and process pressure of the chamber were unchanged. Unlike the sample sputtered only with IZO, the thin films of the Ti–IZO samples could control the oxygen vacancy because Ti reacts with the oxygen in the IZO. Therefore, Ti–IZO thin films can suppress the carrier concentration and thus have an effect on the electrical performance of TFTs.

Single-bi-layer of Ni–Ti thin film was deposited using DC and RF magnetron sputtering technique by layer-wise deposition of Ni and Ti on Si(100) substrate in the order of Ni as the bottom layer and Ti as the top layer. The deposition of these amorphous as-deposited thin films was followed by annealing at 300 °C, 400 °C, 500 °C, and 600 °C temperature with 1-h annealing time for each to achieve crystalline thin films. This paper describes the fabrication processes and the novel characterization techniques of the as-deposited as well as the annealed thin films. Microstructures were analysed using FESEM and HRTEM. Nano-indentation and AFM were carried out to characterize the mechanical properties and surface profiles of the films. It was found that, for the annealing temperatures of 300 °C to 600 °C, the increase in annealing temperature resulted in gradual increase in atomic-cluster coarsening with improved ad-atom mobility. Phase analyses, performed by GIXRD, showed the development of silicide phases and intermetallic compounds. Cross-sectional micrographs exhibited the inter-diffusion between the two-layer constituents, especially at higher temperatures, which resulted either in amorphization or in crystallization after annealing at temperatures above 400 °C. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The reactive sputter deposition of SiNx with tunable optical properties is approached by OES combined with subsequent thin films characterization. The reactive process involves the sputtering of a silicon target under RF bias in an argon/nitrogen gas mixture. The nitrogen mass flow ratio FR = N2/(N2 + Ar) is used as main control parameter, and the evolution of selected emission lines is followed in order to describe the main process intervals. It is shown that the sputtering process has no hysteresis behavior in a broad interval of FR (0–90%). The main process window is established for FR in the range 5–30%, and within this window, the evolution of plasma emission lines and film's optical properties are discussed and correlated.

Pt/CeO2 thin films were deposited on Si and Si3N4 substrates by magnetron sputtering at room temperature. Growth of the films on Si and Si3N4 were characterized by XRD, FESEM and AFM. Interaction of Pt/CeO2 films with Si in Si and Si3N4 substrates was extensively investigated by XPS. XRD studies show that films are oriented preferentially to (200) direction of CeO2. XPS results show that Pt is mainly present in +2 oxidation state in Pt/CeO2/Si film, whereas Pt4+ predominates in Pt/CeO2/Si3N4 film. Ce is present as both +4 and +3 oxidation states in Pt/CeO2 films deposited on both Si and Si3N4 substrates, but concentration of Ce3+ species is observed to be more in Pt/CeO2/Si film. Interfacial reaction between CeO2 and Si substrate is controlled in presence of Pt. Pt/Ce concentration ratio decreases in Pt/CeO2/Si3N4 film upon successive sputtering, whereas this ratio decreases initially and then increases in Pt/CeO2/Si film. Pt is segregated at the interface in Pt/CeO2/Si film, whereas Pt is diffused outwards in Pt/CeO2/Si3N4 film as observed from depth profiling studies.

The article reports on the contamination of Ag thin films sputtered from a pure Ag target in Ar and Ne gas by the RF magnetron by gas atoms contained in residual gas atmosphere in the deposition chamber at different values of the base pressure. The amount of O atoms generated at different values of base pressure is compared with the amount of Ag atoms sputtered at different deposition rates of Ag film. This comparison reveals a great problem in the formation of pure metallic films at low deposition rates and high values of the base pressure. No pure Ag films can be deposited at low in deposition chambers evacuated with diffusion or root pumps to the base pressures lower than 1 mPa only.

Epitaxial BiFeO3 (BFO) film is deposited on the SrRuO3-buffered (001) SrTiO3 substrate by magnetron sputtering. Here, we report the observation of photoinduced changes in polarization–electric hysteresis loop and photovoltaic effect of BFO film when it is illuminated by violet light of 404 nm. The remanent polarization is 57.4 and 65.8 µC/cm2 in the dark and in violet light, respectively, which is explained based on the reorientation of the ferroelectric domains. The open-circuit voltage for photovoltaic effect is 0.28 V. The short-circuit current density displays an almost 100 times enhancement, i.e. from 0.09 µA/cm2 in the dark to 9 µA/cm2 in violet light.

The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of microwave heating on sunflower and corn oil in two types of microwave oven. The microwave ovens had the same output power and varied mainly in time of dissipation. The oil samples were heated for 90% and 70% of the total heating time by the two types of ovens, named as the first and the second oven, respectively, and the remaining time was dissipation pause. It was observed that greater dissipation pause in second microwave caused degradation of oil almost two times lower than did heating in the first microwave oil. In microwave heated oils the focus was on analysis of primary and secondary oxidation products, the fatty acids content, the tocopherol content and tocopherol degradation kinetics. The rate of tocopherol degradation in oils heated in the first oven was on average 2-times higher than in the second oven. Oils heated for 10 min in the second oven were found to contain twice the tocopherol content, three times lower peroxide value, three times lower conjugated dienes and aldehydes compared with oils heated in the first type of oven. This is the first report about gentle microwave heating of oils and its dependence on time of heating and dissipation time. Practical applications: In order to dissipate heat during heating, microwave ovens are designed with different default magnetron pause. It was proved that in oils heated by microwave oven with longer dissipation pause there was less degradation of oils and their antioxidants. For the manufacturer it is important to conveniently select the lengths of heating a heat dissipation periods. By judicious selection of these two time characteristics healthier microwave heated food with lower degradation of lipids and their antioxidants can be obtained, since overheating is largely avoided. Peroxide values and decrease in tocopherol contents determined in sunflower oil during heating in two types of microwave ovens.

The shape of inverted cylindrical magnetrons makes them ideal for coating a variety of optical components having non-planar geometries such as prisms, gratings and spherical lenses. In addition, combining dual cathode mid frequency unbalanced magnetron sputtering with the cylindrical geometry produces a unique source for ion enhanced deposition on planar substrates located at the ends of the cathode. Using a 330 mm diameter source, thickness uniformity on stationary substrates of ± 0.25 % over a diameter of 160 mm and ± 1.3 % over 200 mm can be achieved. SiO2 and Ta2O5 deposited on Si have indices of refraction at a wavelength 632 nm of 1.47 and 2.13 respectively and dispersion similar to those reported for ion assisted processes. The off-axis nature of this arrangement makes such sources particularly useful where the acceleration of negative ions produced at the target surface can damage sensitive materials such as OLEDs. Inverse zylindrische Magnetron Sputterquellen fur optische SchichtenDie Form inverser zylindrischer Magnetrons pradestiniert diese zur Beschichtung optischer Komponenten mit nicht-planaren Geometrien, wie z. B. Prismen, Gitter oder spharische Linsen. Zusatzlich erlaubt die Kombination mit unbalanciertem Magnetronsputtern bei mittleren Frequenzen eine ionengestutzte Beschichtung planarer Substrate an einem Ende der Hohlkathode.Der Einsatz einer Quelle mit 330 mm Durchmesser gewahrleistet eine Gleichmasigkeit der Schichtdicke, die uber 160 mm Durchmesser lediglich um 0,25 % schwankt und uber 200 mm um 1,5 %. Auf Silizium deponiertes SiO2 und Ta2O5 haben bei 632 nm Brechungsindizes von 1,47 bzw. 2,13 und zeigen ein Dispersionsverhalten vegrleichbar mit Schichten, die mit anderen ionengestutzten Verfahren erzielt werden. Aufgrund der Beschichtungsgeometrie, die das Substrat vor substratschadigenden beschleunigten negativen Ionen schutzt, eignet sich diese Anordnung besonders zur Beschichtung empfindlicher Werkstucke wie z. B. OLEDs.

We thank the Junta de Andalucia (Projects P09-CTS-5189, TEP5283, P12-FQM-2265 and FQM-6900) and the Spanish MINECO (Projects CONSOLIDER CSD2008-00023, MAT2010-21228, MAT2010-18447, MAT2011-29194-C02-01) for financial support.

A binary Ta–Ti thin film composition-spread materials library is prepared through magnetron sputter co-deposition. An automated microelectrochemical investigation on selected surface areas, corresponding to a concentration gradient of Ti varying from 0.5 to 36 at %, is achieved by using a scanning droplet cell. Simultaneously, during the anodic oxide growth, a small alternating current (AC) voltage is superimposed on the increasing direct current (DC) potential in order to record the capacitance of the mixed-metal oxide by using alternating current linear sweep voltammetry (AC-LSV). Valve metal behavior, with the current stabilizing after an initial rapid increase, is found for all investigated compositions. AC-LSV allows the ratio of the formation factor to the relative permittivity for different compositions to be calculated.

Bi2O3 thin films deposited by RF magnetron sputtering have been studied in situ by using photoelectron spectroscopy. UV/VIS transmission spectroscopy and XRD measurements were carried out to determine the optical and structural properties of the films. Thin film solar cells were built up with ITO|Bi2O3|Au layer structures. These devices were characterized by current–voltage and capacitance–frequency measurements. Open-circuit voltages up to 680 mV and short-circuit current densities of about 0.3 mA cm−2 were observed. In addition, relative permittivities of approximately 45 have been measured. In order to determine the energy band alignment of Bi2O3 with different contact materials, interface experiments were carried out. With stepwise depositions of the contact material combined with in situ observation of the Fermi level shift via X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, it is possible to measure the energy barrier height between a semiconductor and a metallic contact. The work functions of the different materials were determined by UV photoelectron spectroscopy.

Recently the significant progress in the creation of thin film structures effectively emitting light in the near infrared region (1.5-1.6 μm) at room temperature has been reached for Ge/Si system by UHV growth techniques by Kimerling's group (Ref. [13]). In this work vacuum deposition of Ge thin films onto Si substrates by magnetron sputtering followed by nanosecond pulsed annealing was performed. During deposition sputtering time (t = 3-20 min) and substrate temperature (T = 20-300 °C) were varied. During pulsed treatments powerful laser radiation (λ = 690 nm) or high current ion beams (C+, H+, E = 300 keV, J ≤ 150 A/cm2) were used. The dependence of structural and optical properties of Ge/Si films on parameters of magnetron sputtering and pulsed treatments was investigated. Optimum parameters for deposition and pulsed treatments resulted in light emitting layers are determined. (© 2013 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

Tantalum oxynitride films can be deposited with a high versatility in composition by reactive sputtering of a tantalum target in Ar/O2/N2 mixtures. In this paper, plasma analysis was performed from simple to more complex Ar/O2/N2 gas mixtures and linked to the layer elemental composition. The presence of two reactive gases accelerates the appearance of Compound Sputtering Mode and modifies the nature of target surface. Hence, in Ar/O2/N2, nitrogen addition can lead to poison the target surface by a nitride but also by an oxide or by an oxynitride. Finally, this comprehension of interaction between target and reactive gas was used to select suitable flow rate conditions allowing tantalum oxynitride deposition with varying optical properties

The article reports mass spectrometric characterizations of ions generated in RF magnetron discharges generated using silver targets and Ne, Ar, Kr and Xe gases. Both the amount of ions and ion energies in magnetron discharges were investigated. The following ions X+, Ag+, (XAg)+, X2+, Ag2+, X++ and Ag++ were found in the RF discharges; here X = Ne, Ar, Kr, Xe is the inert gas atom and Ag is the silver atom. The amount of individual ions, their energies and ion energy distribution (IED) functions as a function of sputtering gas pressure were measured. It is shown that the sputtering gas pressure strongly influences the generation of ions, their amount and energy in the RF magnetron discharges. The knowledge of the energies and amounts of individual ions is of a key importance in the deposition of thin films with controlled properties using RF magnetron discharges.

Zinc oxide thin films were deposited, by radio frequency magnetron sputtering, on heated and unheated substrates. The oxygen flow rate was varied during deposition, and its effects on the structural and chemical properties of the films were investigated. The films had oriented c-axis growth with nano-crystallite size. Their surfaces manifested columnar microstructure, with a surface roughness that was suppressed by the introduction of oxygen. Chemical analysis showed that deposition under an oxygen atmosphere resulted in substantial reduction of oxygen vacancies, with a corresponding incorporation of chemisorbed species. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

In this study, Fe52Pt48 thin films were DC magnetron sputter-deposited at room temperature onto thermally oxidized silicon wafers. Rapid thermal annealing (RTA) was employed to induce the phase transformation from the chemically disordered A1 phase into the chemically ordered L10 phase. The influence of the annealing temperature, annealing time, and the film thickness on the ordering transformation and (001) texture evolution of FePt films was studied. Rapid thermal annealed films processed at temperatures larger than 600 °C exhibit high chemical L10 order with strong (001) texture. The resultant high perpendicular magnetic anisotropy and large coercivities up to 40 kOe are demonstrated. Simultaneously to the ordering transformation, RTA leads to a strong dewetting behavior of the film forming large islands.

In this study, flexible polymer chains are incorporated into silicon oxide films by magnetron co-sputtering two targets, namely, silica and dicyclopentadiene dioxide cured with maleic anhydride (DCPD/MA), to solve the brittle problems of these passive barrier packaging materials. Composite SiOx/polymer films are prepared on polyethylene terephthalate substrates by radio frequency (RF) reactive magnetron co-sputtering to combine the flexible polymer groups in oxidation silicon coatings. The samples are prepared by changing the , the RF power ratio delivered to the individual target, from 0.1 to 10. The barrier performance, mechanical properties and flexibility of the composite films are also investigated. The characteristics of the barrier differ from those of traditional passive packaging materials. Oxygen permeation measurements were carried out to verify the reasons for these differences and determine the structure of the films. The results showed that the active sites and double bonds existing in the composite films can scavenge oxygen and lengthen the lag time. Folding test results indicated that the composite films have much better flexibility than the SiOx films, which is attributed to the DCPD/MA segments incorporated into the composite films and the new bonds produced between SiOx and DCPD/MA, as proven by the Fourier transform infrared and X-ray photoelectron spectroscope spectra analysis results. Tensile performance was improved significantly, and the trend of the stretch curves followed an approximate rule as the RF power ratio changed from 0.1 to 10. Moreover, two significant turning points in the stress–strain curves were observed as the films were stretched. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

A comparison of quadrupole mass spectrometric (QMS) and transmission electron microscopic (TEM) characterization of silver nano-cluster deposition produced by a nano-cluster source consisting of a planar DC magnetron sputter source in a high pressure gas aggregation chamber is presented and discussed. Cluster sizes and size distributions detected by the two different techniques are compared and the differences are discussed. The effects of He to Ar ratio, gas flow and magnetron power on the cluster size distribution are evaluated. The influence of the target erosion and aging effects are mentioned, too (© 2012 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

Radio-frequency magnetron sputtering has been used to deposit Ni-rich nickel oxide nano-films to form a metal-insulator-metal structure, which exhibits resistive switching behavior. Memory characteristics of the structure have been investigated. The ratio of the current of the structure at the reading voltage of 0.05 V between a low-resistance state (LRS) and a high-resistance state (HRS) was observed to be >103, showing a large memory window at a very low reading voltage. The memory window was well maintained within the time limit of the experiment (5 × 104 s), exhibiting good memory retention. The current transport at both the LRS and HRS has been studied, and the result suggests that the formation and annihilation of a conductive filament are responsible for the resistive switching.

Plasma, excited with microwave energy, has very interesting properties which are in direct correlation with the excitation frequency. This is due to the reachable high electron density, which itself has an influence on the density of further generated particles like ions, radicals, excited atoms and molecules or UV light. Altogether they are responsible for the high chemical reactivity of microwave plasmas attaining their maximum in the pressure regime between 1 and a few hundred Pa. Therefore, comparatively low end pumping systems can be used to achieve good results in etching, activation and deposition processes. Together with the availability of microwave generators, grown with the market of microwave heating technology, microwave plasma is an interesting tool for industrial applications. Scalability of power up to 100 kW per single magnetron tube and lateral dimensions of a few square meters per single plasma source have opened the field to industrial thin film technology for typical large area applications as solar or other flat panel industries. Roth & Rau Muegge is utilizing these advantages to supply microwave generators and plasma technology for various fields of applications which will be provided as an overview to give insight into running activities in industry. Although the presented applications are part of publicly funded programs and projects together with partners from several research institutes and universities, the technical depth of this contribution has to consider running contracts and non disclosure agreements (© 2012 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

The deposition of dielectric nanofilms by magnetron AF plasma polymerization between two planar electrodes shows a number of advantages over the standard RF method without magnetron enhancement. Because it is powered at 15 kHz, it works as a DC discharge swapping side every half cycle. We investigated here the effect of the magnetron on the breakdown voltage in our system taking Paschen curves with a DC power source. Subsequently, we related the Paschen curves with the deposition rate of the coating, showing that the Paschen minimum corresponds to the maximum growth rate as far as the pressure and the inter-electrode distance are concerned. This result can be used to quickly determine the maximum growth rate in a given configuration via the measurement of a Paschen curve (© 2012 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

Powders of copper and aluminium with a maximum grain size of 50 µm are mixed in different ratios. The mixtures are cold isostatically pressed into two-inch circular targets which are mounted in a conventional magnetron set-up and used to deposit both metallic Cu–Al as well as oxygen rich Cu–Al–O thin films. In both cases the thin film composition is analysed and related to the target composition. Crystallographic properties of the deposited films are presented as well. The influence of the target composition on the reactive behaviour is studied by hysteresis measurements. Furthermore, the effective sputter yields of elemental powder targets were measured. Depending on the material, the sputter yields of the powder target either increased or decreased compared to the sputter yields of solid targets. This can be qualitatively explained by an analysis of the target roughness. For the fast scanning of the compositional influence on material properties, the use of powder targets shows to be a suitable and valuable approach.

In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, a Magnetron Sputtering System consists of a Non-Equipotential Cathode with two or more group of segments made of one or different materials. Each group of segments is electrically insulated from others. At group or groups of segments called as Low-Voltage there is maintained a self-established electric voltage relating to anode that is less than voltages are maintained at remained cathode-target groups of segments called as High-Voltage. Such a Magnetron Sputtering System with a Non-Equipotential cathode makes possible to regulate energy of ions bombarding the cathode parts to control and substantially increase a local productivity of a Magnetron Sputtering System without increasing a discharge current and without change of magnetic field and pressure. Existing Magnetron Sputtering Systems can be adapted for application with this method.

Polymer-Au nanocomposite films were prepared by co-sputtering from two independent magnetron sources. By sputtering from gold and polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) magnetrons, we prepared homogenous composite films using a rotatable sample holder. The microstructure of the nanocomposites was studied by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The resistivity drops from 107 to 10−3 Ohm cm over a narrow range of metal content. The thin composite films show a strong optical absorption in the visible region due to surface plasmon resonances. The optical absorption has a strong dependence on the metal content, showing a red shift of the absorption peak from 550 nm to more than 700 nm with increasing gold content. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2012

The magnetron sputtering discharge used to deposit aluminum-doped zinc oxide was analyzed by energy-resolved ion mass spectrometry. The flux of negative ions was measured at three radial positions in the plane of the substrate holder. The oxygen flow φo 2 was varied from 0 to 17 sccm to investigate the discharge in all operation modes, i.e., metallic, transition, and oxide mode of sputtering. The existence of negative ions was determined from the energy spectra. Main attention was devoted to the investigation of O ― , O ― 2 , AlO ― , AlO ― 2 , ZnO ― , ZnO ― 2 , and AlO ― 3 negative ions and correlations of their intensities in the energy spectrum with discharge parameters (cathode voltage, magnetron power, and gas pressure). It was found that (i) intensities of negative ions exhibit maxima in the vicinity of transition between the metallic and transition mode of sputtering and (ii) in the oxide mode intensities of these ions are saturated.

The article reports on the elimination of arcing in the DC pulse reactive sputtering of Al2O3 thin films using a single unbalanced magnetron operating at relatively high target power density Wta ranging from ∼10 to ∼50 W/cm2; Wta is the target power density averaged over the pulse length. Correlations between pulse length τ, pulse-off time toff, repetition frequency fr and arcing at the target surface were investigated in detail. Undesirable damage of sputtered alumina film due to arcing is demonstrated. It is shown that the length of pulse-off time toff is of key importance for elimination of arcing in pulse reactive sputtering of electrically insulating compounds using a single magnetron.

We present the technique for metal film deposition on spherical microparticles in plasma trap. An RF magnetron discharge was applied both to sputter Ag or Cu electrodes and to confine the microparticles in the immediate proximity to the sputtered area. We estimated the stopping power of Ar buffer gas on the sputtered atoms in van der Waals collisions which provide a main thermalization channel with cross-section of the order of magnitude larger than for the hard sphere collision model. During our deposition experiments the microparticles were trapped close to the border zone of ballistic bombardment by the sputtered atoms. The deposition rate was of the order of 10 ―1 nm·s ―1 , the coatings have continuous surface with uniform thickness.

This article aims to investigate the Raman modes present in Mn-doped ZnO thin films that are deposited using the magnetron co-sputtering method. A broad band ranging from 500 to 590 cm−1 is present in the Raman spectra of heavily Mn-doped ZnO films. The multi-peak-fitting results show that this broad band may be composed of six peaks, and the peak at 528 cm−1 could be a characteristic mode of Mn2O3. The results of this study suggest that the origin of the Raman peaks in Mn-doped ZnO films may be due to three major types: structural disorder and morphological changes caused by the Mn dopant, Mn-related oxides and intrinsic host-lattice defects. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.