Magnetron Sputtering Formation of Molybdenum-Copper Alloys for Fabrication of Millimeter-Band Planar Slow Wave Structures

The goal of this work is an investigation of peculiarities of the molybdenum-copper alloys formation by magnetron sputtering to meet the requirements of low thermal expansion coefficient together with high electrical/thermal conductivity of the material for potential use in microfabrication of slow-wave structures for miniaturized millimeter-band vacuum electron devices. The study is focused on controlling the roughness and adhesion of the fabricated thin Cu-Mo alloy films. The roughness mainly determines the transmission losses at millimeter and THz frequencies, whereas the adhesion of the film is quite important for further processing, such as laser ablation.