A comparison of internal plasma parameters in a conventional planar magnetron and a magnetron with additional plasma confinement

This paper deals with Langmuir probe measurements in a planar magnetron sputtering system in which the plasma confinement near a target can be improved by means of an assembly of permanent magnets placed above the target. The electron density, electron temperature, plasma and floating potentials and electron distribution function are measured in various positions between the target and a substrate under various conditions in the discharge. Our experiments proved that the additional magnetic confinement leads to approximately two times higher electron density and strong enhancement (by about an order of magnitude) of the electron temperature in almost all positions of the deposition system investigated.