Laser powder bed fusion of pure silver sputtering target: process, microstructure, and sputtering performance

Silver (Ag) sputtering targets are crucial in electronic information materials, particularly with the rapid advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AI), which has further increased their demand. However, the extremely high reflectivity and poor laser absorption of pure Ag in the infrared range make it challenging to process using conventional laser-based Additive Manufacturing (AM) systems, limiting its wide application. In this study, a novel hatch spacing-to-scanning speed ratio (h/v)-centered low-energy–density strategy was proposed to overcome this challenge and enable high-quality additive manufacturing of pure Ag. By optimizing the (h/v) value to 1.0E-04, we successfully fabricated dense, low-defect Ag sputtering targets without increasing energy input. The results demonstrated that this method significantly shortened the manufacturing cycle and produced high-performance Ag targets with refined grains (3–7 μm), high density (≥99.8 %), a smooth surface (Ra = 11.5 μm), and stable sputtering performance (sputtering rate = 31.8 nm/min). Furthermore, the hardness increased by 45.1 % compared to Ag targets prepared by traditional methods. This work offers a practical pathway for applying laser-based AM in the production of highly reflective metal sputtering targets, advancing their industrialization in thin-film electronics, while also contributing to the understanding of AM process–structure relationships in metallic materials.