Characteristics of reactive discharge in DC magnetron plasma

Abstract

The thesis entitled quotCharacteristics of reactive discharge in DC magnetron plasmaquot contains experimental study of the discharge characteristics in direct current cylindrical magnetron discharge plasma in relation to material processing applications. Hard and anti-corrosive thin film coatings of titanium nitride has been deposited in a reactive discharge environment using nitrogen gas and the coating has been very effective in providing good surface protection. This work has been presented in the form of 6 chapters. Chapter 1 comprises a general introduction of the cylindrical magnetron discharge and the plasma sheath. Cylindrical magnetron discharges are the class of discharges which are used extensively for magnetron sputtering in a cylindrical geometry. The basic feature of the magnetron system is the confinement of plasma near the target where an axial magnetic field is created parallel to the cathode surface and perpendicular to the applied electric field. Due to the action of the ExB field, the electrons follow a cycloidal path around the cathode. As a result, both the electron lifetime and its path length around the cathode increase. Thus, the electron-neutral collision probability and the ionization rate increase. High density plasma can be achieved in such a system due to higher confinement and higher rate of ionization. Chapter 2 contains the description of the cylindrical magnetron sputtering system and related experimental arrangements including the vacuum system. It also includes the description of the power supply, the different diagnostics used to study. Design of the electrostatic probes, namely Langmuir and emissive probe, used in the study of the sputtering environment and Mach probe for measurement of electron ExB drift current have also been described. The various methods used for characterization of the deposited titanium nitride thin films like X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM) and nano-indentation has also been described in this...