Energy Transferred From a Hot Nickel Target During Magnetron Sputtering

The energy influx emanating from a sputtered Nickel target in a magnetron apparatus is studied using an energy flux diagnostic. An image of the Ni target before, during, and after the sputtering process is presented and correlated to the energy flux results. For an input power above 50 W (i.e.,
\(\approx 10\)
W/cm
\(^{2}\)
), an abrupt increase of the energy flux is observed. This phenomenon is associated to the emission of visible and IR lights by the target, and to an increase of the sputtering rate.