Balanced Magentron Sputtering Cathode for PVD Coating
Balanced magnetron sputtering is a technique of placing permanent magnets or electromagnetic coils with equal or similar magnetic field strength behind a cathode target material, which forms a magnetic field perpendicular to the direction of the electric field on the surface of the target material.
The deposition chamber is filled with a certain amount of argon gas, and under high pressure, Ar atoms ionize into Ar+ions and electrons, generating glow discharge. Ar+ions are accelerated by an electric field and bombard the target material, splashing out target atoms, ions, and secondary electrons.
Electrons move in a cycloidal manner under the action of electromagnetic fields and are bound to the surface of the target material. This increases the participation of electrons in the collision and ionization of gas molecules, improves the ionization rate of the gas, and can maintain discharge even at lower gas pressures, thereby improving sputtering efficiency and deposition rate. Hongfeng VAC also produces unbalanced magnetron sputtering cathodes and coating systems.
This technology creates a "unbalanced" magnetic field by changing the size and strength of the inner and outer magnets, or by using a hybrid structure of electromagnetic coils and permanent magnets, resulting in incomplete closure of magnetic field lines. Some magnetic field lines can extend along the edge of the target to the substrate area, increasing the plasma density and gas ionization rate in the substrate area.
Unbalanced magnetron sputtering ion bombardment can clean the oxide layer and other impurities of the workpiece before coating, activate the surface of the workpiece, and help improve the adhesion between the film layer and the workpiece surface. This technology can improve the quality of the film layer by stripping the loosely bound particles on the film layer through ion bombardment, generating a denser, stronger, and more uniform film layer. Magnetron sputtering technology has been widely used in industrial production due to its wide material applicability, high sputtering rate, and ability to prepare uniform and high-precision film thickness. Compared with other coating technologies, magnetron sputtering has the following characteristics:
The materials that can be prepared into targets are wide, involving almost all metals, alloys, and ceramic materials; Under appropriate conditions, the co sputtering method of multiple target materials can deposit alloys with precise and constant ratios;
By adding oxygen, nitrogen, or other active gases to the sputtering discharge atmosphere, a compound film of target material and gas molecules can be deposited;
By precisely controlling the sputtering coating process, it is easy to obtain uniform and high-precision film thickness;
By ion sputtering, the material of the target material is directly transformed from a solid state to a plasma state, and the installation of the sputtering target is not limited, making it suitable for multi target layout design in large volume coating chambers;
Sputtering coating has the characteristics of fast coating speed, dense film layer, and good adhesion; Very suitable for large-scale, high-efficiency industrial production.