1. What is sputtering deposition?

Sputter deposition is a method of depositing thin films by sputtering material from a “target”. Sputtering is a term used to describe the mechanism in which atoms are ejected from the surface of a material when that surface is stuck by sufficiency energetic ions generated by low-pressure gas plasma, usually an argon plasma. The sputtering takes place at a much lower temperature than evaporation. Sputtered atoms ejected into the gas phase in vapor form are not in their thermodynamic equilibrium state and tend to condense on all surfaces in the vacuum chamber including the substrate.

2. Why are thin films important?

There are many useful applications for thin films. We desire to produce properties in a material that are often conflicting in nature if we use one homogeneous material. Semiconductor devices, for example, are fabricated on a thin layer deposited on a semiconductor substrate. The integrated electronic circuits depend on the confinement of electrical charges, which relies on the interfaces between different materials with different electronic properties. There are also many occasions when the properties demanded an engineering application involve features that are different for the surface than that are for the bulk. Depositing metal films and patterning them on the surface are relatively easy to secure electrical connection between semiconductor devices.

3.How does a sputtering system work?

Generally, in sputtering systems ions are generated and directed at a target, then ions sputter targets atoms. The ejected atoms are transported to the substrate and atoms condense and form a thin film. Below image shows the simple schematic of a sputtering system.

High Vacuum Desk Sputter Coater - DST1-300 - NanoStructured Coatings Co.

The high-vacuum magnetron desk sputter coater model DST1-300 is a compact coating system capable of performing durable deposition of uniform coatings of semiconductors, dielectrics and metals (oxidizing and non-oxidizing) with fine-grain sizes in a large 300 mm dia. chamber.

The large chamber DST1-300 with a 2, 3, or 4-inch water-cooled magnetron cathode is ideally suitable for coating large specimens with diameters of up to 15 cm, or multiple smaller specimens over a similar diameter. The unlimited sputtering time makes it suitable for deposition of thick layers. The system is equipped with 600W DC power supply, or a 300 W RF power supply (optional) with an auto matching box. The system can deposit a wide range of oxidizing and non-oxidizing metal (such as gold (Au), platinum / palladium (Pt / Pd) alloy, silver (Ag), chromium (Cr), tungsten (W), iridium (Ir), etc), metal oxides (like TiO₂, ZnO, etc) and dielectrics on different surfaces for thin film applications such as Micro & Nano electronic and SEM sample preparation.

The DST1-300 is configured as a sputter coater that fulfills research purposes as well as Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) sample preparation. This high vacuum coater offers high quality uniform films with fine grain sizes which are suitable for specimens that require high resolution and high quality characterization such as FE-SEM, EDS/WDS, TEM, and EBSD.

Features

Hardware

Built-in turbo pump (Leybold)
Two stage rotary vane vacuum backing pump (Diaphragm and scroll pump)
Full range vacuum gauge (Leybold)
DC power supply 600W
Quartz crystal thickness monitor with precision of 1nm and resolution of 1 Å
Electronic gas valves
Sample rotation, height and tilt adjustable
Thermal evaporation feed-throughs (optional)
Equipped with electronic shutter
Easy-to-change specimen stages (rotation stage as standard)
Two-year warranty

Automation

Intuitive touch screen to control the coating process and rapid data input
User friendly software, updatable via network
Controls coating rate to achieve finer grain structures
Semi-Fully automatic coating process (optional)
Repeatable, programmable sputtering process in the automatic mode
Manual or automatic Timed and Thickness sputtering deposition
Able to record and plot coating parameters graphs
Storing coating recipes for repeatable depositions

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Clean Vacuum

The vacuum chamber is Cylindrical Pyrex with 300 mm OD and 200 mm H. The DST1-300 is fitted with an internally mounted 90 l/s turbo molecular pump, backed by a 6m³/h two-stage rotary vane pump. It introduces clean vacuum without oil contamination which normally exists with ordinary diffusion pump.

Touch Screen Control

DST1-300 is equipped with a 7” colored touch-screen panel and full automatic control using a user-friendly software to control and adjust the deposition process data. The vacuum and coating sequence information can be observed as digital data or curves on the touch screen. The last 300 coatings information is saved on the history page.

Sample Holder

The samples in high vacuum desk sputter coater model DST1-300 can be mounted on different rotatory sample holder stages. The standard sample holder stage is rotatable with adjustable height and angle and can be changed easily.

NSC product DSCR-300 2-Inch Sample Holder

Applications

Metal, Semiconductor and Dielectric Films
Nano & Microelectronic
Solar cell applications
Optical components coating
Thin film sensors
Magnetic thin film devices
Computer memory applications
Fine grain structural deposition for SEM & FE-SEM sample preparation

Specification

High-vacuum level with built-in turbo pump (Leybold)

Pumping Speed	90 l/s	350 l/s
Ultimate Pressure	8 x10^-6 Torr	8 x10^-7 Torr

Suitable for deposition of a wide range of materials
Precise control over the sputtering rate to achieve finer grain structure
Automatic control of the deposition power independent of pressure
Automatic control of the cathode’s temperature to protect the lifetime of the magnets
Rapid data input through fully automatic touch screen panel
Real-time plots of coating parameters
Deposition process data transfer to PC by a USB port
Utilities: 220V-110V, 50/60HZ, 2 kW
Shipping Weight: 50 kg