A model analysis of a high power impulse magnetron sputtering of copper is presented. A non-stationary global model based on the particle and energy conservation equations in two zones (the high density plasma ring above the target racetrack and the bulk plasma region) was used to calculate time evolutions of the averaged process gas and target material neutral and ion densities, as well as the fluxes of these particles to the target and substrate during a pulse period. The effect of the target power density was studied under the experimental conditions of Anders et al. (2007). The calculated target current waveforms show a long steady state and they are in a good agreement with the experimental results. The analysis of the particle densities shows a transition to a metal dominated discharge plasma for the increasing target power density. The average fraction of target material ions in the total ion flux onto the substrate is more than 90% for the average target power densities higher than 500 W·cm~(-2) in a pulse. The average ionized fraction of target material atoms in the flux onto the substrate reaches 80% for the maximum average target power density of 3 kW·cm~(-2) in a pulse.
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