Influence of modulation frequency on the synthesis of thin films in pulsed magnetron sputtering processes

The research on the influence of modulation frequency on the properties of films synthesized using a unique pulsed power supply combined with a standard unbalanced circular magnetron was conducted in the process of pulsed magnetron sputtering (PMS). It was shown that by using different levels of modulation, the composition of plasma (measured by optical emission spectroscopy, OES) as well as film growth rate and morphology (observed with scanning electron microscope, SEM), can be changed. The impact of modulation is related to the used materials and gases and can vary significantly. It was concluded that modulation frequency can greatly influence the synthesis of materials and can be used as an additional parameter in PMS. Specific relations between modulation frequency and synthesized material require further investigation.