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 Carbon Coater - DCT - NanoStructured Coatings Co.

DCT is a turbo-pumped carbon coater that is ideal for FE-SEM, EDS/WDS, TEM, EBSD and thin film applications. This high-vacuum coater offers high quality uniform carbon films with fine grain sizes which are suitable for specimens that require high-resolution and high-quality characterization.

Features

Hardware

High vacuum level with built-in turbo pump 90 L/s (Leybold)
Two-stage rotary vane backing pump (Diaphragm or scroll pump)
500 W switching DC power supply for carbon fiber deposition
2 kW high-current DC power supply for carbon rod deposition (Optional)
Quartz crystal thickness monitor with precision of 1nm and resolution of 1 Å
Automatic 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
Semi-full automatic coating process (optional)
Repeatable, programmable coating process in the automatic mode
Pulsed or flash carbon fiber coating modes
Pulsed or ramped carbon rod coating modes
Automatic carbon fiber/rod deposition according to the set thickness value
Records and plots coating parameters graphs
Storing coating recipes for repeatable depositions

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Pulsed Carbon Fiber Evaporation

The Desk vacuum carbon coater is able to perform pulsed carbon fiber evaporation. Short pulses provide more controlled deposition and significantly reduces the number of debris associated with traditional carbon deposition.

Carbon Rod Evaporation in Turbo Pumped Desk Carbon Coater (Optional)

The Desk high vacuum carbon coater could be equipped with carbon rod head (Optional). For this case an external 0-100A high current power supply should be used instead of the internal high current power supply which is designed for carbon fiber evaporation.

Clean Vacuum

The vacuum chamber is made from Cylindrical Pyrex and Stainless Steel. The DCT is fitted to a 90 L/s turbomolecular pump, that can be backed by a 6 m³/h two stage rotary vane pump (Optionally supplied by the manufacturer), or a scroll or diaphragm pump (Based on the customer choice). It introduces clean vacuum without oil contamination which normally exists with ordinary diffusion pump.

Touch Screen Control of High Vacuum Desk Carbon Coater

Desk carbon coater is equipped with a 7” colored touch screen with full automatic control utilizing a user-friendly software to control and adjust the deposition process data. The vacuum and coating sequence information can be monitored 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 Holder Stages

The device can be equipped with different sample stage configurations depending on the user requirements. The standard sample stage is rotatable with adjustable height and angle 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

Fine grain structural deposition of carbon for SEM, FE-SEM, EDX, and TEM sample preparation
Conductive layers
TEM grid plasma treatment for improved hydrophilicity (Optional)