High power impulse magnetron sputtering (HIPIMS)

对涂层材料性能要求的不断提高和薄膜合成技术在新应用领域的发展推动了先进沉积方法的发展。其中，大功率脉冲磁控溅射（HIPIMS）是最近提出的一种极具前景的物理气相沉积（PVD）新兴技术。通过在低占空比（在MW范围内）的单个脉冲内施加非常高的功率，可以实现高等离子体密度，而不会使目标过热，从而在阴极表面产生几kW/cm2的峰值功率，并且电离程度高达90%，产生的等离子体密度比传统的直流磁控管放电高2到3个数量级。这为磁控溅射开辟了新的途径，特别是提供非常致密的薄膜（包装密度为100%），低应力和对工业基板的优异附着力。在此次RTI竞赛中，我们寻求资金购买HIPIMS电源，以支持我们对新型纳米结构光学、摩擦学和保护涂层的合成研究，这些涂层可用于航空航天、光子学、生物医学和先进制造应用。

Ever increasing requirements on the coating material properties and the thin film synthesis techniques for new fields of application drive the development of advanced deposition methods. Among these, High Power Impulse Magnetron Sputtering (HIPIMS) is a very recently proposed and highly promising emerging technology for physical vapor deposition (PVD). High plasma density, without overheating the target, can be achieved by applying a very high power within individual pulses at low duty cycle (in the MW range), giving rise to a peak power on the cathode surface of several kW/cm2, and a degree of ionization of up to 90%, yielding plasma densities 2 to 3 orders of magnitude higher than in a conventional DC magnetron discharge. This opens new avenues in magnetron sputtering, in particular providing very dense films (packing density of 100%), low stress and excellent adhesion to industrial substrates. Within this RTI competition, we seek funding for the acquisition of a HIPIMS power supply in support of our research on the synthesis of new nanostructured optical, tribological and protective coatings for their use in aerospace, photonics, biomedical and advanced manufacturing applications.