Kiel 2011 – scientific programme

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P: Fachverband Plasmaphysik

P 9: Poster: Diagnostik technischer Plasmen

P 9.12: Poster

Tuesday, March 29, 2011, 17:00–19:00, Foyer

Investigation of the magnetic field change during the pulse of a HPPMS discharge — •Barbara Barwe, Marc Böke, Teresa de los Arcos, and Jörg Winter — Ruhr-University Bochum, Institute for Experimental Physics II, 44801 Bochum, Germany

High Power Pulsed Magnetron Sputtering (HPPMS) is a technique where the power is introduced into the magnetron plasma as short intensive pulses to reach high plasma densities and nearly fully ionised plasmas for a short time.

An important parameter in magnetron sputtering systems is the magnetic field configuration of the magnetron. However, the pulsing will induce strong transient currents due to the high plasma density which leads to a high density of charged particles. Therefore induced magnetic fields can alter significantly the initial static magnetic field. Furthermore, the magnetic field changes give some indication of the currents in the plasma.

A Hall probe was used to determine the static magnetic configuration of the magnetron and a B-dot probe was used for space and time resolved measurements to investigate how the currents produced within a HPPMS discharge affect the magnetic environment of the magnetron. The results of mapping measurements show that the original magnetic field of the magnetron is severely deformed by the discharge. Changes of several µT are recorded, depending on the spatial location of the measurement. The spatial arrangement of this deformation provides the assumption of the presence of azimuthally drifting electrons close to the target surface generating the Hall current.