Improvement of sputtering target utilization using dynamic plasma processing

A newly proposed design of the magnetron sputtering cathode shows to vastly improve target utilization efficiency for depositing films. In order to investigate this design's primary intent to obtain widely diffused target erosion areas, the finite element method (FEM) was employed to study the magnetic field distributions on the target surface. Favorable results from the study compelled the fabrication of this magnetron sputtering cathode design. This cathode creates widely diffused erosion areas by moving the position of the intense plasma, where the target becomes deeply sputtered, on the target surface by controlling the magnetic field with solenoid coils mounted on the inside of the sputtering cathode. This sputtering cathode design proved to achieve target utilization efficiencies as high as 40% for a 1150 x 150 x 6(t) mm indium tin oxide (ITO) target, in addition to satisfying the properties of deposited ITO films for use in transparent electrodes.