Time-of-flight mass spectrometry diagnostics in deep oscillation magnetron sputtering (DOMS) of titanium.

Reflectron-type time-of-flight mass spectrometry was applied to the time-resolved component analysis of deep oscillation magnetron sputtering (DOMS), which has been developed as a technique of modulated pulsed magnetron sputtering. In the present study, the DOMS of a Ti target was performed under an Ar gas atmosphere by using a DOMS-specific control waveform consisting of 25 current and/or power pulses. The time evolution of the formation of ionized species (Ar⁺, Ar²⁺, Ti⁺, and Ti²⁺) after the application of the first discharge pulse was observed at the position corresponding to the deposition region. This study revealed that the plasma build-up process from non-metallic plasma to metallic plasma takes approximately two micropulses (around 100 μs from ignition) in DOMS discharge. In addition, we have found the possibility of studying sputtering processes, such as the rarefaction, and refilling processes of Ar as a function of pulse number through DOMS research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]