Plasma Source Based on an Unbalanced Magnetron Sputtering System

The paper presents research results on the capabilities of an unbalanced magnetron sputtering (UMS) system with a coefficient of geometrical unbalance K-G=0.3 to produce gas discharge plasma far from its target. Using argon as the working gas and silicon as the target material, it is shown that the proposed UMS system provides the generation of plasma with an ion current density of approximate to 0.2 mA/cm(2) in the region of treated material at 440 mm from the Si target. The research data on the maximum power at which the UMS system produces high-density plasma without melting the Si target are also presented.