The magnetic field design of rotating cylindrical cathodes plays a critical role in determining target utilization and coating quality in magnetron sputtering processes. However, conventional design approaches rely heavily on empirical knowledge and iterative trial-and-error experiments, resulting in high development costs and low design efficiency. Moreover, experimental magnetic field measurements are labor-intensive and are limited to discrete spatial points, making it difficult to comprehensively characterize the global magnetic field distribution. Finite element simulation offers significant advantages, including intuitive visualization, rapid analysis, and low cost, thereby enabling effective investigation of the relationship between structural parameters and magnetic field distribution. Consequently, it has become an important tool for cathode design and optimization. Nevertheless, existing studies mainly focus on evaluation indices such as magnetic field uniformity and maximum magnetic flux density, which are insufficient to fully characterize the complexity of target-surface magnetic field distributions. In addition, effective evaluation methods for magnetic field leakage and magnetic field attenuation behaviors remain lacking, and systematic analyses of the magnetic field distribution characteristics of rotating cylindrical cathodes have yet to be established.
In this study, a two-dimensional finite element model is developed to investigate the magnetic field distribution characteristics of a four-row magnet array in a rotating cylindrical cathode. To achieve a more comprehensive evaluation of target-surface magnetic field characteristics, several magnetic field evaluation indices are proposed based on the tangential magnetic flux density, including magnetic field peak height, magnetic field peak position, magnetic field peak full width at half maximum (FWHM), magnetic field leakage ratio, and magnetic field attenuation coefficient. Specifically, the magnetic field leakage ratio characterizes the extent of magnetic field leakage in non-sputtering regions, whereas the magnetic field attenuation coefficient reflects the decay rate of the magnetic field with increasing target thickness. Reducing these two indices is beneficial for suppressing target erosion and sputtered-material contamination in non-sputtering regions, improving the deposition rate and target utilization, and enhancing the stability of coating quality during long-term sputtering processes.
The effects of key structural parameters, including magnet spacing, magnet-to-target reference distance, magnet width ratio, magnet height difference, and magnet polarization angle, on the proposed evaluation indices are systematically analyzed. The simulation results reveal distinct influence mechanisms of different structural parameters on the magnetic field distribution. Specifically, the magnet spacing strongly affects the magnetic field leakage ratio, peak height, and peak position. The magnet-to-target reference distance significantly influences the magnetic field peak height, peak position, FWHM, and attenuation coefficient. The magnet width ratio exhibits the most pronounced effect on the magnetic field leakage ratio, whereas the magnet height difference primarily affects the magnetic field peak height and leakage ratio. In contrast, the magnet polarization angle has a significant effect on the magnetic field attenuation coefficient. Based on these findings, a structural optimization design is further conducted, with the magnetic field leakage ratio and magnetic field attenuation coefficient selected as the primary optimization objectives. By optimizing magnet spacing, magnet height difference, and magnet polarization angle, the magnetic field leakage ratio and attenuation coefficient are reduced by 89.12% and 11.32%, respectively, resulting in a substantial improvement in target-surface magnetic field distribution characteristics.
This study establishes a more comprehensive framework for analyzing and evaluating magnetic field distributions of rotating cylindrical cathodes, clarifies the influence mechanisms of key structural parameters, and provides theoretical guidance for the structural design and optimization of magnetron sputtering cathodes. The proposed methodology and findings offer significant engineering value for improving sputtering uniformity, target utilization, and coating quality.
Key words
rotating cylindrical cathode /
magnetic field simulation /
magnetic field evaluation indices /
structural parameters /
structural optimization
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Funding
CUI CAN Program of Guangdong Province (CC/XM-202401ZJ0201)
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