Instructor

This is an introductory lecture on thin film deposition using high-power impulse magnetron sputtering (HiPIMS), and how this sputtering technique differs from conventional magnetron processes. 

The tutorial includes a brief introduction to the fundamentals of thin film growth as well as basic plasma physics, with emphasis on the role and characteristics of the plasma. Experimental results and simulations, based on industrially relevant material systems, will be used to illustrate mechanisms controlling nucleation kinetics, column formation, and microstructure evolution. Ionization of sputtered atoms will be discussed in detail for various target materials, since it enables effective surface modification via ion etching and self-ion-bombardment assistance during film growth, as well as being a key feature in HiPIMS. In addition, the role of self-sputtering, secondary electron emission, and the importance of controlling the process gas dynamics (both inert as well as reactive gases) will be examined in detail with the aim to generate stable HiPIMS processes.

The tutorial will also give an overview on how to characterize the HiPIMS discharge to establish general trends on how to optimize any given HiPIMS process. Such process optimization will also allow you to identify what external parameters to adjust for controlling film growth and thereby tune film properties, including hardness, homogeneity and residual stress.