Sputtering

AJA International ATC ORION 5

Sputtering is a physical vapour deposition technique where the substrate is coated with atoms or molecules from a target material, made possible by the bombardment of energetic particles of plasma or gas onto the target material's surface. Typically, the inert gas argon is introduced to the vacuum chamber and a self-sustaining plasma is established by electrically energising the target material (which is effectively a cathode). In the plasma, the argon atoms lose electrons and become positively charged ions and are accelerated onto the target with enough kinetic energy to dislodge atoms and small molecules. The particles constitute a vapour stream that goes from the target to the substrate to form a thin-film. Sputtering is used in the manufacture of optical coatings, semiconductor devices, and nanotechnology products.

Pros Cons
Good for metals and dielectrics Energetic target material can cause substrate heating
High deposition rate of <100 Å/s for metals, good for high throughput applications Poor deposition rate for dielectrics (0.1-10 Å/s)
Uniformity is good for better yield, although uniformity improvement can be difficult and costly Low directionality, but can be improved with system geometry
Low level of impurity  
Film density is very good with moderate to high stress  

 

Available targets

  • Phase-change materials: Ge2Sb2Te5, Sb2Se3, (Ag,In)-doped Sb2Te
  • Oxides: SiO2, ITO,
  • Other: TiN,

Specifications

  • 1 AJA International 750 Watt DC generators with integral 4-way switch box and cable set (1000V, 1A). Suitable for conductive materials.
  • 3 AJA International 300 Watt RF generators, auto-matching network and cable set. Suitable also for non-conductive materials.
  • 1 Automated 4-way RF switch box and cable set to be used for RF biasing
  • Accommodates up to five 2" Sputtering Sources in confocal geometry
  • Sputter Orientation: Up
  • Uniformly Coats up to 4" Diameter Substrates (+/-2.5 %)
  • Substrate Heating (850C), Rotation (0-40 rpm), RF/DC Biasing, and 50 mm Z-Motion Adjustment
  • RF, DC, Pulsed DC, and HiPIMS power supplies are available
  • Accommodates up to four MFC gas lines (Ar, O2, N2, H2, etc.)
  • Turbopumped Load-Lock System
  • Base pressure: 1e-8 Torr
  • The system has an AJA Phase II J Computer Control for improved handling
  • Semi-Automatic or LabVIEW Based Computer Control System