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Magnetron sputtering is a physical vapor deposition process that uses magnets to stabilize charges, allowing for accurate and evenly distributed thin films. It can create a variety of target materials and is commonly used in the semiconductor industry. Unlike traditional sputtering, magnetron sputtering offers higher ionization rates and less electron damage to the target material by introducing a magnet behind the power source to trap and protect the electrons.
Magnetron sputtering is a type of physical vapor deposition, a process in which a target material is vaporized and deposited onto a substrate to create a thin film. Because it uses magnets to stabilize charges, magnetron sputtering can be conducted at lower pressures. Additionally, this sputtering process can create accurate and evenly distributed thin films and allows for greater variety in the target material. Magnetron sputtering is often used to form thin films of metal on different materials, such as plastic bags, compact discs (CDs), and digital video discs (DVDs), and is also commonly used in the semiconductor industry.
Typically, a traditional sputtering process begins in a vacuum chamber with the target material. Argon, or another inert gas, is slowly introduced, allowing the chamber to maintain its low pressure. Next, a current is introduced through the machine’s power source, driving electrons into the chamber which begin bombarding the argon atoms and shedding electrons in their outer electron shells. As a result, the argon atoms form positively charged cations which begin to bombard the target material, releasing small molecules of them in a spray which collects on the substrate.
While this method is generally effective for creating thin films, the free electrons in the chamber bombard not only the argon atoms, but also the surface of the target material. This can lead to a high degree of damage to the target material, including uneven surface texture and overheating. Additionally, traditional diode sputtering can take a long time to complete, opening up even more opportunities for electron damage to the target material.
Magnetron sputtering offers higher ionization rates and less electron damage to the target material than traditional sputter deposition techniques. In this process, a magnet is introduced behind the power source to stabilize the free electrons, protect the target material from electronic contact, and also increase the likelihood that the electrons will ionize the argon atoms. The magnet creates a field that keeps the electrons held and trapped above the target material where they cannot damage it. Because the magnetic field lines are curved, the electron path in the chamber extends through the argon flow, improving ionization rates and decreasing the time until the thin film is completed. In this way, magnetron sputtering is able to counteract the initial problems of time and damage to the target material that had occurred with traditional diode sputtering.
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