The AJA UHV Orion chalcogenide sputter system is capable of reaching UHV pressures as low as 1E-10 Torr. It is equipped with a load-lock for fast sample transfer. There are five magnetron guns, three 2" guns and two 3" guns. A total of three RF and one DC power supplies can be used on any of the five guns, some with an internal switch box allowing for one power source to be sequentially routed to different guns, enabling automatic processes without manual cable swapping. Uniformity across a 6" wafer is <5% variation for the 2" guns and <1.5% for the 3" guns. Pre-mixed targets of specific alloys and compounds may be sputtered. In addition, having multiple power supplies allows for co-sputtering of up to four materials simultaneously. Reactive sputtering may be performed by introducing oxygen and/or nitrogen into the chamber during processing, allowing oxides and nitrides to be formed from pure metal targets. Co-sputtering multiple elements in a reactive process can produce complex ceramics. An RF power supply is also present specifically for generating a localized plasma at the substrate; this can be used as a surface cleaner & etcher, for techniques such as ion-assisted deposition, and to assist in the reactive formation of metal-nitrides. This tool is also capable of substrate heating up to 800 °C, which can be used to facilitate reactions, alloying, to control film stress, and to control crystal growth mechanisms.
Reasons to Utilize Sputtering
Ability to synthesize compounds and control compositions
Wide variety of high quality oxides & nitrides may be synthesized
Generally produces more uniform, better adhering films when compared to evaporation
More conformal sidewall coverage for coating patterned substrates
More conformal than evaporation, less conformal than CVD & ALD
Applications
Deposition of metals, dielectrics, and other special elements
