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.

Desk Sputter/Carbon Coater

The large chamber rotary pumped DSCR-300, Desk Sputter and Carbon Coater, with a 3 or 4-inch water-cooled magnetron cathode is a compact coating system for both sputter and carbon coating. This system is suitable for non-oxidizing targets deposition on large specimens. The water-cooled magnetron cathode allow prolonged sputtering time, making it suitable for deposition of thick and thin layers.

With Desk Coater model DSCR-300, one can deposit on different substrates for thin film applications such as Micro & Nano electronic devices and SEM sample preparation. It can also sputter noble non-oxidizing metals such as gold (Au), palladium (Pd), platinum (Pt), and gold/palladium (Au/Pd) on non-conductive or poorly conductive samples. Besides, the nano-structured specimen coated with a thin carbon film can be characterized through various techniques like FE-SEM, TEM, and EDX.

The 3-inch magnetron can be used to uniformly coat a sample of diameter up to 12 cm, and a sample with a diameter of about 15 cm can be coated with the 4-inch magnetron. Also, more than 50 SEM small stubs (1 cm dia.) can be loaded onto the 4-inch sample stage.

The DSCR-300 rotary pumped coater is configured for DC sputtering and carbon fiber (thread) or carbon rod coating with interchangeable heads in one instrument.

The full-automatic sputter and carbon coating processes allows easy, precise, and repeatable performance.

Features

Hardware

Two-stage, direct drive rotary vane pump 6 m³/h
80 W DC switching power supply for sputtering
0-25A pulsed DC power supply for carbon fiber evaporation
0-100A DC power supply for carbon rod evaporation (optional)
Quartz crystal thickness monitor with precision of 1nm and resolution of 1 Å
One 2,3 or 4-inch magnetron cathode
Electronic venting valve
Sample rotation, height and tilt adjustable
Planetary sample holder (optional)
Electronic shutter
Easy-to-change specimen stages (rotation stage as standard)
Two-year warranty
CE conformity

Automation

Intuitive touch screen to control the coating process and rapid data input
User friendly software, updatable via network
Precise control over coating rate to achieve finer grain structures
Manual or automatic Timed and Thickness sputtering deposition
Semi-Full automatic sputtering
Semi-Full automatic carbon fiber/rod deposition process
Pulsed or flash carbon fiber coating modes
Pulsed or ramped carbon rod coating modes
Repeatable, programmable sputtering and carbon coating process in the automatic mode
Records and plots coating parameters graphs
Storing coating recipes for repeatable depositions

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Carbon Coating Head

The device is equipped with an interchangeable head for carbon (fiber or rod) coating purpose. The carbon heads features are as follows:

Pulsed Carbon Fiber Evaporation

The DSCR-300 coater is able to perform pulsed carbon fiber evaporation. Short pulses provide more controlled deposition and significantly reduces the amount of debris associated with traditional carbon deposition. Three carbon fibers with a maximum diameter of 0.8 mm can be loaded onto the source holder.

Carbon Rod Evaporation (optional)

The DSCR-300 could be equipped with carbon rod evaporator head (optional), which provides more controllable and durable carbon deposition processes. For this case, an external 0-100A high current power supply should be used instead of the internal high current power supply designed for carbon fiber evaporation.

Touch Screen Control

DSCR-300, the Desk SEM Coater, 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 Stages

The DSCR-300 can be equipped with different sample stage configurations up to 15 cm, depending on the user requirements. The sample stages are rotatable with adjustable height and can be changed easily.

NSC product DSCR-300 2-Inch Sample Holder

NSC product DSCR-300 4 Inch Sample Holder

Applications

Fine grain structural deposition of noble metals for SEM & FE-SEM, EDX, and TEM sample preparation
Conductive layers
GLAD sputterin
TEM grid plasma treatment for improved hydrophilicity