What Is PVD Sputtering?

so exactly how does the sputtering process work first you're coding materials are placed on a magnetron in a solid form called a target for highly pure coatings you need a clean environment with only materials of your choosing this is why the chamber is evacuated to remove almost every molecule from the chamber then the chamber is vac filled with a process gas process gas species are chosen based on the type of material to be deposited common process gases include argon oxygen and nitrogen now the conditions inside of the chamber are ready to begin the process a negative electrical potential is applied to the magnetron which is the cathode and the ground reference is the chamber which is the anode this electrical potential will cause free electrons to accelerate away from the magnetron when these electrons collide with a process gas atom they strip the gas atom of an electron creating a positively charged process gas ion the positively charged ion is accelerated towards the magnetron this ion carries enough energy with it to knock off some of the magnetrons target material this target material will then collect on surfaces in the path the magnetron is directed at this is how material collects on your substrate the positively charged ions will recombine with free electrons to create a neutral atom again the light from the plasma is created when the ions recombine with free electrons into a lower energy state when a free electron recombines with an ion it has a voltage the ion meets less voltage so this excess voltage is led off in a light the light is the plasma glow that is seen during processing this process repeats at a constant rate until the desired thickness is achieved and power is removed from the cathode this amazing atomic reaction is what makes semi core a leader in custom vacuum equipment

Channel: Semicore Equipment

Views: 103,510

Keywords: Sputtering Cathode target thin film deposition Semicore

Id: L6ZIkmIVm6c

Length: 2min 24sec (144 seconds)

Published: Fri Nov 01 2013