PIC/MCC Simulation Of Planar DC Magnetron Sputtering

Magnetron Sputtering has been developed as one of the most important technologies in industrial coating, especially for large area deposition. The production should especially pay attention to such aspects as deposition rate, process stability as well as the utilization rate of target materials which need the optimized design of whole system. In order to optimize the design of magnetron, it is of practical importance to analyze the magnetic field of magnetron target which affects the discharge character and the target erosion.In this paper, the 2D magnetic field distribution of typical planar magnetron target was obtained using finite element method and the calculated result consisted well with the experimentally measured one at target surface. A considerable structure of the magnetic flux distribution on the target surface was achieved by using the pole shoe on the inner pole and reducing the magnetic size can extend area with desirable radial component of magnetic flux.A numerical calculation of planar DC magnetron discharge with Particle-in-Cell/Monte Carlo Collision method is performed using the magnetic field related to a real magnetron target. The plasma potential, charged particle densities and ion flux at the cathode surface are obtained. The results are in good agreement with those obtained in previous studies. To check the calculation, the calculated erosion profile is compared with measured one. The simulation results provide reasonable agreement with the experimental data. The maximum erosion position corresponds to the place where the magnetic field lines are parallel to the target surface.With this PIC/MCC model, various magnet geometries are implemented to determine the optimum geometry for magnetron designs.