Paul Nizenkov, Julian Beyer, Stephen Copplestone, Asim Mirza, boltzplatz - numerical plasma dynamics GmbH, Stuttgart, Germany
Reactive magnetron sputtering is a well-established physical vapor deposition (PVD) technique used to coat different substrates with thin films. It offers significant advantages in thin film and coating production. However, to ensure the quality of the coatings, it is necessary to understand the complex underlying physical processes. In reactive magnetron sputtering, the low-pressure plasma involves strongly coupled phenomena such as particle transport, ionization, surface reactions, and target poisoning. Particle-based simulations provide an approach to model these processes and to gain insight into gas-phase dynamics and deposition behavior inside coating chambers. This study uses the open source software PICLas, a parallel, three-dimensional PIC-MCC/DSMC solver developed by boltzplatz GmbH in cooperation with the Institute of Space Systems and the Institute of Aerodynamics and Gas Dynamics of the University of Stuttgart. PICLas is coupled with a reactive wall model on the target, which describes target surface coverage as a function of the impacting particle flux. Additionally, an emission model dependent on surface coverage is implemented to model the reactive sputtering process. In this presentation, we simulate the reactive sputtering process of Ti in an O₂/Ar atmosphere within an industrial coating chamber. The gas distribution within the vacuum chamber, the transport of sputtered particles, and the deposition rate are analyzed for different reactive gas inflow conditions. Furthermore, the poisoning of the target is monitored. This numerical approach can significantly accelerate process development by reducing the need for trial and error in experiments and provide valuable information for optimizing and controlling industrial reactive magnetron sputtering processes.