Anode problems in pulsed power reactive sputtering of dielectics

摘要

A new method for sputter deposition of an insulating material on a substrate is described, which offers numerous advantages over previous techniques such as dual mangetron sputtering. The new approach uaes a single target, whose surfaces, through the use of alternating power, are kept free from unwandted charging and resultant arcing. The system also does not suffer from the "disappearing anode" effect, and so can be operated continuously in a production environment. This is accomplished through use of an ac power supply and a novel anode and circuit configuration, which uses the plasma itself as a rectifier to convert the applied alternating power to dc power for the single cathode. The system is described in detail and preliminary experimental results are pesented.