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 Coater – DSR1 - NanoStructured Coatings Co.

The Desk SEM Coater model DSR1 is a compact coating system able to coat noble metals such as gold (Au), palladium (Pd), platinum (Pt) and gold/palladium (Au/Pd) thin films on non-conductive or poorly conductive specimens. Uniform thin films with fine-grain sizes can form in a fast cycle time which makes it an ideal coating system for sample preparation for scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis. The Desk Magnetron Sputter Coater (DSR1) is a high productivity tool that delivers consistent and highly repeatable results in the fully automated system. The ergonomic design and small footprint of the DSR1 SEM coating system allows easy use of the system.

The DSR1 is configured as a sputter coater suitable for Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) sample preparation.

The DSR1 with a 2” magnetron cathode, 80 W switching DC power supply, could be used for research and different thin film applications.

DSR1 can be equipped with a water-cooled cathode which make it suitable for long time deposition.

The maximum size of substrates in this model could be 4 inches.

Features

Hardware

Two-stage, direct drive rotary vane pump 6m³/h,
80 W switching DC power supply
Quartz crystal thickness monitor with precision of 1nm and resolution of 1 Å
One 2-inch magnetron cathode
Electronic gas valves
Sample rotation, height and tilt adjustable
Equipped with 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
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 deposition
Able to record and plot coating parameters graphs
Storing coating recipes for repeatable depositions

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Touch Screen Control

DSR1, the desk sputter coater, is equipped with a 7” colored touch screen 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 and can be transferred to PC by a USB port on the device.

Sample Holders Stages

The DSR1 can be equipped with different sample stage configurations depending on the user requirements. The standard sample stage is rotatable with adjustable height, angel and can be changed easily. The rotary planetary sample stage is a good choice for uniform coating of porous specimens (Optional).

Newly Designed Sample Holder

A new 4-inch rotating sample holder (With an optional gear offset) is designed for the system to increase the deposition area and the number of coating stubs in a run (Customizable for max. 50×1 mm stubs).

Applications

The DSR1 is a Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) sample preparation system equipped with a rotary pump to achieve vacuum less than 50 mTorr which is a suitable vacuum range for noble metals sputter coating.

Noble metal coating for SEM and FE-SEM sample preparation
Contact coating
Glow discharge plasma for surface modifications and improved surface hydrophilicity (Optional)

Note: For sputtering of oxidizing metals, please see the DST1 (Turbo-pumped desk sputter coater).

Detailed Features

* Single-phase AC power with appropriate earth connection is required.

Specification

Suitable for deposition of noble metals
Able to perform GLAD Sputtering
Automatic control of the cathode’s temperature to protect the lifetime of the magnets
Max. power consumption: 1.5 kW