Patent ID: 7147759

Claim:
A magnetically enhanced sputtering source comprising: a) an anode; b) a cathode assembly that is positioned adjacent to the anode, the cathode assembly including a sputtering target; c) an ionization source that generates a weakly-ionized plasma proximate to the anode and the cathode assembly; d) a magnet that is positioned to generate a magnetic field proximate to the weakly-ionized plasma, the magnetic field substantially trapping electrons in the weakly-ionized plasma proximate to the sputtering target; and e) a power supply generating a voltage pulse that produces an electric field between the cathode assembly and the anode, the power supply being configured to generate the voltage pulse with an amplitude and a rise time that increases an excitation rate of ground state atoms that are present in the weakly-ionized plasma to create a multi-step ionization process that generates a strongly-ionized plasma, which comprises ions that sputter target material, from the weakly-ionized plasma, the multi-step ionization process comprising exciting the ground state atoms to generate excited atoms, and then ionizing the excited atoms within the weakly-ionized plasma without forming an arc discharge.