HIGH-POWER RESONANCE PULSE AC HEDP SPUTTERING SOURCE AND METHOD FOR MATERIAL PROCESSING

摘要

A method of sputtering using a high energy density plasma (HEDP) magnetron includes configuring an anode and cathode target magnet assembly in a vacuum chamber with a sputtering cathode target and substrate, applying regulated unipolar voltage pulses to a tunable pulse forming network, and adjusting amplitude and frequency of the unipolar voltage pulses to cause a resonance mode associated with the tunable pulse forming network and an output AC waveform generated from the pulse forming network. The output AC waveform is operatively coupled to the sputtering cathode target, and the output AC waveform includes a negative voltage exceeding the amplitude of the unipolar voltage pulses during sputtering discharge of the HEDP magnetron. An increase in the amplitude of the unipolar voltage pulses causes a constant amplitude of the negative voltage of the output AC waveform in response to the pulse forming network being in the resonance mode, thereby causing the HEDP magnetron sputtering discharge to form the layer on the substrate. A corresponding apparatus and computer-readable medium are disclosed.