Magnetron sputtering cathode for low power density operation

A novel magnetron sputtering cathode with a magnetic mirror configuration is proposed, for low power density operation. The magnetic field profiles are simply constructed using two cylindrical permanent magnets positioned behind the disk-shaped sputtering target of 50 mm in diameter. The magnetic mirror configuration near the center and the outer edges of the target enables low power density operation up to 0.25 W/cm2 in the case of DC input power of 5 W. A sputtering rate of ∼0.2 nm/min was obtained under experimental conditions with target-substrate distance of 280 mm, Ar gas pressure of 0.1 Pa, and DC input power of 15 W.