The role of Ohmic heating in dc magnetron sputtering

• Sustaining a plasma in a magnetron discharge requires energization of the plasma electrons. In this work, Ohmic heating of electrons outside the cathode sheath is demonstrated to be typically of the same order as sheath energization, and a simple physical explanation is given. We propose a generalized Thornton equation that includes both sheath energization and Ohmic heating of electrons. The secondary electron emission yield gamma(SE) is identified as the key parameter determining the relative importance of the two processes. For a conventional 5 cm diameter planar dc magnetron, Ohmic heating is found to be more important than sheath energization for secondary electron emission yields below around 0.1.

Subject headings

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Fysik (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Physical Sciences (hsv//eng)

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Fysik -- Fusion, plasma och rymdfysik (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Physical Sciences -- Fusion, Plasma and Space Physics (hsv//eng)

Keyword

magnetron sputtering

Ohmic heating

energy balance

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

art (subject category)