Modeling Magnetron Sputtering Devices with VSIM

Plasma Vapor Deposition (PVD) is used in a variety of industrial applications for coating thin films over a substrate. In the PVD process within magnetron sputtering devices, electrons ionize a background gas and the ensuing ions, accelerated by a potential gradient, strike a target cathode and sputter off neutral atoms. The sputtered material travels ballistically, interacting with the plasma through collisions or depositing on a surface within the chamber.¹