Growth of metal newborn formations on cathode surface under influence of plasma flow

The article presents results of the experimental studies and theoretical description of processes that occur during modification of a Cu cathode surface in the magnetron discharge in Ar. The experimentally observed cone-like microprotrusions are classified and possible mechanisms responsible for the growth of such formations with dimensions in the range 1–100 μm are discussed. An analytical model is proposed for the experimentally observed phenomena of growth of the cone-like microprotrusions. We consider the case when a strong electric field in the cathode sheath of the discharge is taken into consideration during sputtering.