Magnetised Plasmas

A plasma is magnetised when an external magnetic field significantly affects the dynamic of the charged particles within the plasma and therefore has a significant effect on the process properties. Examples for magnetised plasma discharges are fusion plasmas, Hall-Thruster in aerospace engineering and magnetron-Sputtering (MS) for functional surface coating. 

The Chair of Theoretical Electrical Engineering deals intensively with MS discharges, both in the DC case (dcMS) and  radiofrequenzgetriebenen ???. One method which recently became prominent is the high power impulse magnetron sputtering (HiPIMS), with which short DC pulses with voltages in the kv range are docked to the driven electrode. This makes it possible to generate a high plasma density, which allows a higher sputtering and ionization rate of the materials to be applied. This leads to an improvement of coating properties such as hardness and compactness compared to dcMS and rfMS. 

MS discharges are simulated with the help of self-developed, efficient multi-GPU-optimised particle-in-cell codes. Another focus is the modelling of MS discharges through suitable mathematical descriptions with the goal to develop a simplified theory that still follows the significant physical processes on the basis of which, computing-effective simulations can be developed. 

MS-Entladungen werden mithilfe von eigenentwickelten, leistungsstarken multi-GPU-optimierten particle-in-cell-Codes simuliert. Weiterer Fokus ist die Modellierung von MS-Entladungen durch geeignete mathematische Beschreibungen mit dem Ziel, eine vereinfachte Theorie aufzustellen, die dennoch die wesentlichen physikalischen Prozesse einfängt und auf deren Basis recheneffizientere Simulationen entwickelt werden können.