Current-Voltage Characteristics of DC Plasma Discharges Employed in Sputtering Techniques

Abstract

In this work, the current-voltage characteristics of dc plasma discharges were studied. The current-voltage characteristics of argon gas discharge at different inter-electrode distances and working pressure of 0.7mbar without magnetrons were introduced. Then the variation of discharge current with inter-electrode distance at certain discharge voltages without using magnetron was determined. The current-voltage characteristics of discharge plasma at inter-electrode distance of 4cm without magnetron, with only one magnetron and with dual magnetrons were also determined. The variation of discharge current with inter-electrode distance at certain discharge voltage (400V) for the cases without magnetron, using one magnetron and dual magnetrons were studied. Finally, the discharge current-voltage characteristics for different argon/nitrogen mixtures at total gas pressure of 0.7mbar and inter-electrode distance of 4cm were presented.