The production of Fe film targets using enhanced magnetron sputtering

In this paper, the production of sputtered Fe films with an assistant magnetic field has been described in detail. The substrates were glass, silicon and mica. Without an assistant magnetic field, the high magnetic conductivity of the iron resulted in spatial magnetic induction intensity on the Fe sputtering target of <20 G. Under this condition, no Fe film was deposited on the substrates, although a 2 Pa partial pressure of Ar was used with the sputtering voltage VS as high as 1000 V. With an assistant magnetic field, produced by a cylindrical stack of permanent magnet rings positioned 5 mm above the Fe target, the average deposition rate of Fe films was 24 and 38 nm/min in two series of tests. For these two series, the background vacuum PB was 10−4 Pa, with VS=500 V, and IS=5 mA or VS=700 V, and IS=9 mA, respectively. The relationship between the distribution of Fe film thickness and the distribution of the assistant magnetic field intensity were studied in detail.