WorldWideScience

Sample records for rate sputter deposition

  1. Deposition Rates of High Power Impulse Magnetron Sputtering: Physics and Economics

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Anders, Andre

    2009-11-22

    Deposition by high power impulse magnetron sputtering (HIPIMS) is considered by some as the new paradigm of advanced sputtering technology, yet this is met with skepticism by others for the reported lower deposition rates, if compared to rates of more conventional sputtering of equal average power. In this contribution, the underlying physical reasons for the rate changes are discussed, including (i) ion return to the target and self-sputtering, (ii) the less-than-linear increase of the sputtering yield with increasing ion energy, (iii) yield changes due to the shift of species responsible for sputtering, (iv) changes to due to greater film density, limited sticking, and self-sputtering on the substrate, (v) noticeable power losses in the switch module, (vi) changes of the magnetic balance and particle confinement of the magnetron due to self-fields at high current, and (vii) superposition of sputtering and sublimation/evaporation for selected materials. The situation is even more complicated for reactive systems where the target surface chemistry is a function of the reactive gas partial pressure and discharge conditions. While most of these factors imply a reduction of the normalized deposition rate, increased rates have been reported for certain conditions using hot targets and less poisoned targets. Finally, some points of economics and HIPIMS benefits considered.

  2. Deposition rates of high power impulse magnetron sputtering: Physics and economics

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Anders, Andre

    2010-01-01

    Deposition by high power impulse magnetron sputtering (HIPIMS) is considered by some as the new paradigm of advanced sputtering technology, yet this is met with skepticism by others for the reported lower deposition rates, if compared to rates of more conventional sputtering of equal average power. In this contribution, the underlying physical reasons for the rate changes are discussed, including (i) ion return to the target and self-sputtering, (ii) the less-than-linear increase in the sputtering yield with increasing ion energy, (iii) yield changes due to the shift of species responsible for sputtering, (iv) changes due to greater film density, limited sticking, and self-sputtering on the substrate, (v) noticeable power losses in the switch module, (vi) changes in the magnetic balance and particle confinement of the magnetron due to self-fields at high current, and (vii) superposition of sputtering and sublimation/evaporation for selected materials. The situation is even more complicated for reactive systems where the target surface chemistry is a function of the reactive gas partial pressure and discharge conditions. While most of these factors imply a reduction in the normalized deposition rate, increased rates have been reported for certain conditions using hot targets and less poisoned targets. Finally, some points of economics and HIPIMS benefits are considered.

  3. Sputtering. [as deposition technique in mechanical engineering

    Science.gov (United States)

    Spalvins, T.

    1976-01-01

    This paper primarily reviews the potential of using the sputtering process as a deposition technique; however, the manufacturing and sputter etching aspects are also discussed. Since sputtering is not regulated by classical thermodynamics, new multicomponent materials can be developed in any possible chemical composition. The basic mechanism for dc and rf sputtering is described. Sputter-deposition is described in terms of the unique advantageous features it offers such as versatility, momentum transfer, stoichiometry, sputter-etching, target geometry (coating complex surfaces), precise controls, flexibility, ecology, and sputtering rates. Sputtered film characteristics, such as strong adherence and coherence and film morphology, are briefly evaluated in terms of varying the sputtering parameters. Also described are some of the specific industrial areas which are turning to sputter-deposition techniques.

  4. One-dimensional analysis of the rate of plasma-assisted sputter deposition

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Palmero, A.; Rudolph, H.; Habraken, F. H. P. M.

    2007-01-01

    In this article a recently developed model [A. Palmero, H. Rudolph, and F. H. P. M. Habraken, Appl. Phys. Lett. 89, 211501 (2006)] is applied to analyze the transport of sputtered material from the cathode toward the growing film when using a plasma-assisted sputtering deposition technique. The argon pressure dependence of the deposition rate of aluminum, silicon, vanadium, chromium, germanium, tantalum, and tungsten under several different experimental conditions has been analyzed by fitting experimental results from the literature to the above-mentioned theory. Good fits are obtained. Three quantities are deduced from the fit: the temperature of the cathode and of the growing film, and the value of the effective cross section for thermalization due to elastic scattering of a sputtered particle on background gas atoms. The values derived from the fits for the growing film and cathode temperature are very similar to those experimentally determined and reported in the literature. The effective cross sections have been found to be approximately the corresponding geometrical cross section divided by the average number of collisions required for the thermalization, implying that the real and effective thermalization lengths have a similar value. Finally, the values of the throw distance appearing in the Keller-Simmons model, as well as its dependence on the deposition conditions have been understood invoking the values of the cathode and film temperature, as well as of the value of the effective cross section. The analysis shows the overall validity of this model for the transport of sputtered particles in sputter deposition

  5. High rate deposition of thin film cadmium sulphide by pulsed direct current magnetron sputtering

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lisco, F., E-mail: F.Lisco@lboro.ac.uk [Centre for Renewable Energy Systems Technology (CREST), School of Electronic, Electrical and Systems Engineering, Loughborough University, Leicestershire LE11 3TU (United Kingdom); Kaminski, P.M.; Abbas, A.; Bowers, J.W.; Claudio, G. [Centre for Renewable Energy Systems Technology (CREST), School of Electronic, Electrical and Systems Engineering, Loughborough University, Leicestershire LE11 3TU (United Kingdom); Losurdo, M. [Institute of Inorganic Methodologies and of Plasmas, IMIP-CNR, via Orabona 4, 70126 Bari (Italy); Walls, J.M. [Centre for Renewable Energy Systems Technology (CREST), School of Electronic, Electrical and Systems Engineering, Loughborough University, Leicestershire LE11 3TU (United Kingdom)

    2015-01-01

    Cadmium Sulphide (CdS) is an important n-type semiconductor widely used as a window layer in thin film photovoltaics Copper Indium Selenide, Copper Indium Gallium (di)Selenide, Copper Zinc Tin Sulphide and Cadmium Telluride (CdTe). Cadmium Sulphide has been deposited using a number of techniques but these techniques can be slow (chemical bath deposition and Radio Frequency sputtering) or the uniformity and the control of thickness can be relatively difficult (close space sublimation). In this paper we report on the development of a process using pulsed Direct Current magnetron sputtering which allows nanometre control of thin film thickness using time only. The CdS thin films deposited in this process are highly uniform and smooth. They exhibit the preferred hexagonal structure at room temperature deposition and they have excellent optical properties. Importantly, the process is highly stable despite the use of a semi-insulating magnetron target. Moreover, the process is very fast. The deposition rate using 1.5 kW of power to a 6-inch circular magnetron was measured to be greater than 8 nm/s. This makes the process suitable for industrial deployment. - Highlights: • Pulsed DC magnetron sputtering of CdS • High deposition rate deposition • Uniform, pinhole free films.

  6. High rate deposition of thin film cadmium sulphide by pulsed direct current magnetron sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lisco, F.; Kaminski, P.M.; Abbas, A.; Bowers, J.W.; Claudio, G.; Losurdo, M.; Walls, J.M.

    2015-01-01

    Cadmium Sulphide (CdS) is an important n-type semiconductor widely used as a window layer in thin film photovoltaics Copper Indium Selenide, Copper Indium Gallium (di)Selenide, Copper Zinc Tin Sulphide and Cadmium Telluride (CdTe). Cadmium Sulphide has been deposited using a number of techniques but these techniques can be slow (chemical bath deposition and Radio Frequency sputtering) or the uniformity and the control of thickness can be relatively difficult (close space sublimation). In this paper we report on the development of a process using pulsed Direct Current magnetron sputtering which allows nanometre control of thin film thickness using time only. The CdS thin films deposited in this process are highly uniform and smooth. They exhibit the preferred hexagonal structure at room temperature deposition and they have excellent optical properties. Importantly, the process is highly stable despite the use of a semi-insulating magnetron target. Moreover, the process is very fast. The deposition rate using 1.5 kW of power to a 6-inch circular magnetron was measured to be greater than 8 nm/s. This makes the process suitable for industrial deployment. - Highlights: • Pulsed DC magnetron sputtering of CdS • High deposition rate deposition • Uniform, pinhole free films

  7. High power pulsed magnetron sputtering: A method to increase deposition rate

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Raman, Priya; McLain, Jake; Ruzic, David N; Shchelkanov, Ivan A.

    2015-01-01

    High power pulsed magnetron sputtering (HPPMS) is a state-of-the-art physical vapor deposition technique with several industrial applications. One of the main disadvantages of this process is its low deposition rate. In this work, the authors report a new magnetic field configuration, which produces deposition rates twice that of conventional magnetron's dipole magnetic field configuration. Three different magnet pack configurations are discussed in this paper, and an optimized magnet pack configuration for HPPMS that leads to a higher deposition rate and nearly full-face target erosion is presented. The discussed magnetic field produced by a specially designed magnet assembly is of the same size as the conventional magnet assembly and requires no external fields. Comparison of deposition rates with different power supplies and the electron trapping efficiency in complex magnetic field arrangements are discussed

  8. Study on the Deposition Rate Depending on Substrate Position by Using Ion Beam Sputtering Deposition

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kim, Yonggi; Kim, Bomsok; Lee, Jaesang [Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

    2014-05-15

    Ion beams have been used for over thirty years to modify materials in manufacturing of integrated circuits, and improving the corrosion properties of surfaces. Recently, the requirements for ion beam processes are becoming especially challenging in the following areas : ultra shallow junction formation for LSI fabrication, low damage high rate ion beam sputtering and smoothing, high quality functional surface treatment for electrical and optical properties. Ion beam sputtering is an attractive technology for the deposition of thin film coatings onto a broad variety of polymer, Si-wafer, lightweight substrates. Demand for the decoration metal is increasing. In addition, lightweight of parts is important, because of energy issues in the industries. Although a lot of researches have been done with conventional PVD methods for the deposition of metal or ceramic films on the surface of the polymer, there are still adhesion problems.

  9. Impact of deposition rate on the structural and magnetic properties of sputtered Ni/Cu multilayer thin films

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Karpuz, Ali [Karamanoglu Mehmetbey Univ., Karaman (Turkey). Dept. of Physics; Colmekci, Salih; Kockar, Hakan; Kuru, Hilal; Uckun, Mehmet [Balikesir Univ. (Turkey). Dept. of Physics

    2018-04-01

    The structural and corresponding magnetic properties of Ni/Cu films sputtered at low and high deposition rates were investigated as there is a limited number of related studies in this field. 5[Ni(10 nm)/Cu(30 nm)] multilayer thin films were deposited using two DC sputtering sources at low (0.02 nm/s) and high (0.10 nm/s) deposition rates of Ni layers. A face centered cubic phase was detected for both films. The surface of the film sputtered at the low deposition rate has a lot of micro-grains distributed uniformly and with sizes from 0.1 to 0.4 μm. Also, it has a vertical acicular morphology. At high deposition rate, the number of micro-grains considerably decreased, and some of their sizes increased up to 1 μm. The surface of the Ni/Cu multilayer deposited at the low rate has a relatively more grainy and rugged structure, whereas the surface of the film deposited at the high rate has a relatively larger lateral size of surface grains with a relatively fine morphology. Saturation magnetisation, M{sub s}, values were 90 and 138 emu/cm{sup 3} for deposition rates of 0.02 and 0.10 nm/s, respectively. Remanence, M{sub r}, values were also found to be 48 and 71 emu/cm{sup 3} for the low and high deposition rates, respectively. The coercivity, H{sub c}, values were 46 and 65 Oe for the low and high Ni deposition rates, respectively. The changes in the film surfaces provoked the changes in the H{sub c} values. The M{sub s}, M{sub r}, and H{sub c} values of the 5[Ni(10 nm)/Cu(30 nm)] films can be adjusted considering the surface morphologies and film contents caused by the different Ni deposition rates.

  10. Magnetic field effects on coating deposition rate and surface morphology coatings using magnetron sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yang, Yu-Sen; Huang, Wesley

    2010-01-01

    Chromium nitride coatings exhibit superior hardness, excellent wear and oxidation resistance, and are widely applied in the die and mold industries. The aim of this study was to investigate magnetic field effects on the deposition rate and surface morphology of chromium nitride coatings deposited by magnetron sputtering. Four types of magnetic field configurations, including the magnetron sputtering system, SNSN, SNNN, and intermediate magnetron modification, are discussed in this paper. SKD11 cold work die steel and a silicon (100) chip were used as substrates in the chromium nitride depositions. The process parameters, such as target current, substrate bias, and the distance between the substrate and target, are at fixed conditions, except for the magnetic arrangement type. The experimental results showed that the deposition rates of the four types of magnetic field configurations were 1.06, 1.38, 1.67 and 1.26 µm h −1 , respectively. In these cases, the SNNN type performs more than 58% faster than the unbalanced magnetron configuration does for the deposition rate. The surface morphology of chromium nitride films was also examined by SEM and is discussed in this paper

  11. Visible-light active thin-film WO3 photocatalyst with controlled high-rate deposition by low-damage reactive-gas-flow sputtering

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nobuto Oka

    2015-10-01

    Full Text Available A process based on reactive gas flow sputtering (GFS for depositing visible-light active photocatalytic WO3 films at high deposition rates and with high film quality was successfully demonstrated. The deposition rate for this process was over 10 times higher than that achieved by the conventional sputtering process and the process was highly stable. Furthermore, Pt nanoparticle-loaded WO3 films deposited by the GFS process exhibited much higher photocatalytic activity than those deposited by conventional sputtering, where the photocatalytic activity was evaluated by the extent of decomposition of CH3CHO under visible light irradiation. The decomposition time for 60 ppm of CH3CHO was 7.5 times more rapid on the films deposited by the GFS process than on the films deposited by the conventional process. During GFS deposition, there are no high-energy particles bombarding the growing film surface, whereas the bombardment of the surface with high-energy particles is a key feature of conventional sputtering. Hence, the WO3 films deposited by GFS should be of higher quality, with fewer structural defects, which would lead to a decrease in the number of centers for electron-hole recombination and to the efficient use of photogenerated holes for the decomposition of CH3CHO.

  12. Preparation and characterization of thick metastable sputter deposits

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Allen, R.P.; Dahlgren, S.D.; Merz, M.D.

    1975-01-01

    High-rate dc supported-discharge sputtering techniques were developed and used to prepare 0.1 mm to 5.0 mm-thick deposits of a variety of metastable materials including amorphous alloys representing more than 15 different rare-earth-transition metal systems and a wide range of compositions and deposition conditions. The ability to prepare thick, homogeneous deposits has made it possible for the first time to investigate the structure, properties, and annealing behavior of these unique sputtered alloys using neutron diffraction, ultrasonic, and other experimental techniques that are difficult or impractical for thin films. More importantly, these characterization studies show that the structure and properties of the massive sputter deposits are independent of thickness and can be reproduced from deposit to deposit. Other advantages and applications of this metastable materials preparation technique include the possibility of varying structure and properties by control of the deposition parameters and the ability to deposit even reactive alloys with a very low impurity content

  13. The structural properties of CdS deposited by chemical bath deposition and pulsed direct current magnetron sputtering

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lisco, F., E-mail: F.Lisco@lboro.ac.uk [Centre for Renewable Energy Systems Technology (CREST), School of Electronic, Electrical and Systems Engineering, Loughborough University, Leicestershire, LE11 3TU (United Kingdom); Kaminski, P.M.; Abbas, A.; Bass, K.; Bowers, J.W.; Claudio, G. [Centre for Renewable Energy Systems Technology (CREST), School of Electronic, Electrical and Systems Engineering, Loughborough University, Leicestershire, LE11 3TU (United Kingdom); Losurdo, M. [Institute of Inorganic Methodologies and of Plasmas, IMIP-CNR, via Orabona 4, 70126 Bari (Italy); Walls, J.M. [Centre for Renewable Energy Systems Technology (CREST), School of Electronic, Electrical and Systems Engineering, Loughborough University, Leicestershire, LE11 3TU (United Kingdom)

    2015-05-01

    Cadmium sulphide (CdS) thin films were deposited by two different processes, chemical bath deposition (CBD), and pulsed DC magnetron sputtering (PDCMS) on fluorine doped-tin oxide coated glass to assess the potential advantages of the pulsed DC magnetron sputtering process. The structural, optical and morphological properties of films obtained by CBD and PDCMS were investigated using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, scanning and transmission electron microscopy, spectroscopic ellipsometry and UV-Vis spectrophotometry. The as-grown films were studied and comparisons were drawn between their morphology, uniformity, crystallinity, and the deposition rate of the process. The highest crystallinity is observed for sputtered CdS thin films. The absorption in the visible wavelength increased for PDCMS CdS thin films, due to the higher density of the films. The band gap measured for the as-grown CBD-CdS is 2.38 eV compared to 2.34 eV for PDCMS-CdS, confirming the higher density of the sputtered thin film. The higher deposition rate for PDCMS is a significant advantage of this technique which has potential use for high rate and low cost manufacturing. - Highlights: • Pulsed DC magnetron sputtering (PDCMS) of CdS films • Chemical bath deposition of CdS films • Comparison between CdS thin films deposited by chemical bath and PDCMS techniques • High deposition rate deposition for PDCMS deposition • Uniform, pinhole free CdS thin films.

  14. The structural properties of CdS deposited by chemical bath deposition and pulsed direct current magnetron sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lisco, F.; Kaminski, P.M.; Abbas, A.; Bass, K.; Bowers, J.W.; Claudio, G.; Losurdo, M.; Walls, J.M.

    2015-01-01

    Cadmium sulphide (CdS) thin films were deposited by two different processes, chemical bath deposition (CBD), and pulsed DC magnetron sputtering (PDCMS) on fluorine doped-tin oxide coated glass to assess the potential advantages of the pulsed DC magnetron sputtering process. The structural, optical and morphological properties of films obtained by CBD and PDCMS were investigated using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, scanning and transmission electron microscopy, spectroscopic ellipsometry and UV-Vis spectrophotometry. The as-grown films were studied and comparisons were drawn between their morphology, uniformity, crystallinity, and the deposition rate of the process. The highest crystallinity is observed for sputtered CdS thin films. The absorption in the visible wavelength increased for PDCMS CdS thin films, due to the higher density of the films. The band gap measured for the as-grown CBD-CdS is 2.38 eV compared to 2.34 eV for PDCMS-CdS, confirming the higher density of the sputtered thin film. The higher deposition rate for PDCMS is a significant advantage of this technique which has potential use for high rate and low cost manufacturing. - Highlights: • Pulsed DC magnetron sputtering (PDCMS) of CdS films • Chemical bath deposition of CdS films • Comparison between CdS thin films deposited by chemical bath and PDCMS techniques • High deposition rate deposition for PDCMS deposition • Uniform, pinhole free CdS thin films

  15. The crystallization and properties of sputter deposited lithium niobite

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Shank, Joshua C.; Brooks Tellekamp, M.; Alan Doolittle, W., E-mail: alan.doolittle@ece.gatech.edu

    2016-06-30

    Sputter deposition of the thin film memristor material, lithium niobite (LiNbO{sub 2}) is performed by co-deposition from a lithium oxide (Li{sub 2}O) and a niobium target. Crystalline films that are textured about the (101) orientation are produced under room temperature conditions. This material displays memristive hysteresis and exhibits XPS spectra similar to MBE and bulk grown LiNbO{sub 2}. Various deposition parameters were investigated resulting in variations in the deposition rate, film crystallinity, oxygen to niobium ratio, and mean niobium oxidation state. The results of this study allow for the routine production of large area LiNbO{sub 2} films at low substrate temperature useful in hybrid-integration of memristor, optical, and energy storage applications. - Highlights: • Room temperature sputter deposition of crystalline lithium niobite (LiNbO{sub 2}) • Contrast with previous high temperature corrosive growth methods • Analysis of sputter deposition parameters on the chemical and physical properties of the deposited material.

  16. The crystallization and properties of sputter deposited lithium niobite

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shank, Joshua C.; Brooks Tellekamp, M.; Alan Doolittle, W.

    2016-01-01

    Sputter deposition of the thin film memristor material, lithium niobite (LiNbO_2) is performed by co-deposition from a lithium oxide (Li_2O) and a niobium target. Crystalline films that are textured about the (101) orientation are produced under room temperature conditions. This material displays memristive hysteresis and exhibits XPS spectra similar to MBE and bulk grown LiNbO_2. Various deposition parameters were investigated resulting in variations in the deposition rate, film crystallinity, oxygen to niobium ratio, and mean niobium oxidation state. The results of this study allow for the routine production of large area LiNbO_2 films at low substrate temperature useful in hybrid-integration of memristor, optical, and energy storage applications. - Highlights: • Room temperature sputter deposition of crystalline lithium niobite (LiNbO_2) • Contrast with previous high temperature corrosive growth methods • Analysis of sputter deposition parameters on the chemical and physical properties of the deposited material

  17. Sputter deposition of BSCCO films from a hollow cathode

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lanagan, M.T.; Kampwirth, R.T.; Doyle, K.; Kowalski, S.; Miller, D.; Gray, K.E.

    1991-01-01

    High-T c superconducting thin films were deposited onto MgO single crystal substrates from a hollow cathode onto ceramic targets with the nominal composition of Bi 2 Sr 2 CaCu 2 O x . Films similar in composition to those used for the targets were deposited on MgO substrates by rf sputtering. The effects of sputtering time, rf power, and post-annealing on film microstructure and properties were studied in detail. Substrate temperature was found to have a significant influence on the film characteristics. Initial results show that deposition rates from a hollow cathode are an order of magnitude higher than those of a planar magnetron source at equivalent power levels. Large deposition rates allow for the coating of long lengths of wire

  18. Novel texturing method for sputtered zinc oxide films prepared at high deposition rate from ceramic tube targets

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hüpkes J.

    2011-10-01

    Full Text Available Sputtered and wet-chemically texture etched zinc oxide (ZnO films on glass substrates are regularly applied as transparent front contact in silicon based thin film solar cells. In this study, chemical wet etching in diluted hydrofluoric acid (HF and subsequently in diluted hydrochloric acid (HCl on aluminum doped zinc oxide (ZnO:Al films deposited by magnetron sputtering from ceramic tube targets at high discharge power (~10 kW/m target length is investigated. Films with thickness of around 800 nm were etched in diluted HCl acid and HF acid to achieve rough surface textures. It is found that the etching of the films in both etchants leads to different surface textures. A two steps etching process, which is especially favorable for films prepared at high deposition rate, was systematically studied. By etching first in diluted hydrofluoric acid (HF and subsequently in diluted hydrochloric acid (HCl these films are furnished with a surface texture which is characterized by craters with typical diameter of around 500 − 1000 nm. The resulting surface structure is comparable to etched films sputtered at low deposition rate, which had been demonstrated to be able to achieve high efficiencies in silicon thin film solar cells.

  19. Deposition of indium tin oxide films on acrylic substrates by radiofrequency magnetron sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chiou, B.S.; Hsieh, S.T.; Wu, W.F.

    1994-01-01

    Indium tin oxide (ITO) films were deposited onto acrylic substrates by rf magnetron sputtering. Low substrate temperature (< 80 C) and low rf power (< 28 W) were maintained during sputtering to prevent acrylic substrate deformation. The influence of sputtering parameters, such as rf power, target-to-substrate distance, and chamber pressure, on the film deposition rate, the electrical properties, as well as the optical properties of the deposited films was investigated. Both the refractive index and the extinction coefficient were derived. The high reflection at wavelengths greater than 3 μm made these sputtered ITO films applicable to infrared mirrors

  20. High-rate deposition of high-quality Sn-doped In2O3 films by reactive magnetron sputtering using alloy targets

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Oka, Nobuto; Kawase, Yukari; Shigesato, Yuzo

    2012-01-01

    Sn-doped In 2 O 3 (ITO) films were deposited on heated (200 °C) fused silica glass substrates by reactive DC sputtering with mid-frequency pulsing (50 kHz) and a plasma control unit combined with a feedback system of the optical emission intensity for the atomic O* line at 777 nm. A planar In–Sn alloy target was connected to the switching unit, which was operated in the unipolar pulse mode. The power density on the target was maintained at 4.4 W cm −2 during deposition. The feedback system precisely controlled the oxidation of the target surface in “the transition region.” The ITO film with lowest resistivity (3.1 × 10 −4 Ω cm) was obtained with a deposition rate of 310 nm min −1 and transmittance in the visible region of approximately 80%. The deposition rate was about 6 times higher than that of ITO films deposited by conventional sputtering using an oxide target.

  1. Low-Damage Sputter Deposition on Graphene

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Ching-Tzu; Casu, Emanuele; Gajek, Marcin; Raoux, Simone

    2013-03-01

    Despite its versatility and prevalence in the microelectronics industry, sputter deposition has seen very limited applications for graphene-based electronics. We have systematically investigated the sputtering induced graphene defects and identified the reflected high-energy neutrals of the sputtering gas as the primary cause of damage. In this talk, we introduce a novel sputtering technique that is shown to dramatically reduce bombardment of the fast neutrals and improve the structural integrity of the underlying graphene layer. We also demonstrate that sputter deposition and in-situ oxidation of 1 nm Al film at elevated temperatures yields homogeneous, fully covered oxide films with r.m.s. roughness much less than 1 monolayer, which shows the potential of using such technique for gate oxides, tunnel barriers, and multilayer fabrication in a wide range of graphene devices.

  2. High-power sputtering employed for film deposition

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shapovalov, V I

    2017-01-01

    The features of high-power magnetron sputtering employed for the films’ deposition are reviewed. The main physical phenomena accompanying high-power sputtering including ion-electron emission, gas rarefaction, ionization of sputtered atoms, self-sputtering, ion sound waves and the impact of the target heating are described. (paper)

  3. Effect of sputtering power on structure and properties of Bi film deposited by DC magnetron sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Liao Guo; He Zhibing; Xu Hua; Li Jun; Chen Taihua; Chen Jiajun

    2012-01-01

    Bi film was fabricated at different sputtering powers by DC magnetron sputtering. The deposition rate of Bi film as the function of sputtering power was studied. The surface topography of Bi film was observed by SEM, and the growth mode of Bi film was investigated. The crystal structure was analyzed by XRD. The grain size and stress of Bi film were calculated. The SEM images show that all the films are columnar growth. The average grain size firstly increases as the sputtering power increases, then decreases at 60 W. The film becomes loose with the increase of sputtering power, while, the film gets compact when the sputtering power becomes from 45 to 60 W. The XRD results show that films are polycrystalline of hexagonal. And the stress transforms from the tensile stress to compressive stress as the sputtering power increases. (authors)

  4. Improvement of InN layers deposited on Si(111) by RF sputtering using a low-growth-rate InN buffer layer

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Valdueza-Felip, S.; Ibáñez, J.; Monroy, E.; González-Herráez, M.; Artús, L.; Naranjo, F.B.

    2012-01-01

    We investigate the influence of a low-growth-rate InN buffer layer on structural and optical properties of wurtzite nanocrystalline InN films deposited on Si(111) substrates by reactive radio-frequency sputtering. The deposition conditions of the InN buffer layer were optimized in terms of morphological and structural quality, leading to films with surface root-mean-square roughness of ∼ 1 nm under low-growth-rate conditions (60 nm/h). The use of the developed InN buffer layer improves the crystalline quality of the subsequent InN thick films deposited at high growth rate (180 nm/h), as confirmed by the narrowing of X-ray diffraction peaks and the increase of the average grain size of the layers. This improvement of the structural quality is further confirmed by Raman scattering spectroscopy measurements. Room temperature PL emission peaking at ∼ 1.58 eV is observed for InN samples grown with the developed buffer layer. The crystal and optical quality obtained for InN films grown on Si(111) using the low-growth-rate InN buffer layer become comparable to high-quality InN films deposited directly on GaN templates by RF sputtering. - Highlights: ► Improved RF-sputtered InN films on Si(111) using a low-growth-rate InN buffer layer. ► Enhanced structural quality confirmed by X-ray diffraction and Raman measurements. ► Room-temperature photoluminescence emission at 1.58 eV. ► InN films deposited with buffer layer on Si comparable to InN LAYERS on GaN templates.

  5. Improvement of InN layers deposited on Si(111) by RF sputtering using a low-growth-rate InN buffer layer

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Valdueza-Felip, S., E-mail: sirona.valdueza@depeca.uah.es [Electronics Dept., Polytechnic School, University of Alcala, Madrid-Barcelona Road, km 33.6, 28871 Alcala de Henares, Madrid (Spain); Ibanez, J. [Institut de Ciencies de la Terra Jaume Almera, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas (CSIC), c/Lluis Sole Sabaris s/n, 08028 Barcelona (Spain); Monroy, E. [CEA-Grenoble, INAC/SP2M/NPSC, 17 rue des Martyrs, 38054 Grenoble cedex 9 (France); Gonzalez-Herraez, M. [Electronics Dept., Polytechnic School, University of Alcala, Madrid-Barcelona Road, km 33.6, 28871 Alcala de Henares, Madrid (Spain); Artus, L. [Institut de Ciencies de la Terra Jaume Almera, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas (CSIC), c/Lluis Sole Sabaris s/n, 08028 Barcelona (Spain); Naranjo, F.B. [Electronics Dept., Polytechnic School, University of Alcala, Madrid-Barcelona Road, km 33.6, 28871 Alcala de Henares, Madrid (Spain)

    2012-01-31

    We investigate the influence of a low-growth-rate InN buffer layer on structural and optical properties of wurtzite nanocrystalline InN films deposited on Si(111) substrates by reactive radio-frequency sputtering. The deposition conditions of the InN buffer layer were optimized in terms of morphological and structural quality, leading to films with surface root-mean-square roughness of {approx} 1 nm under low-growth-rate conditions (60 nm/h). The use of the developed InN buffer layer improves the crystalline quality of the subsequent InN thick films deposited at high growth rate (180 nm/h), as confirmed by the narrowing of X-ray diffraction peaks and the increase of the average grain size of the layers. This improvement of the structural quality is further confirmed by Raman scattering spectroscopy measurements. Room temperature PL emission peaking at {approx} 1.58 eV is observed for InN samples grown with the developed buffer layer. The crystal and optical quality obtained for InN films grown on Si(111) using the low-growth-rate InN buffer layer become comparable to high-quality InN films deposited directly on GaN templates by RF sputtering. - Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Improved RF-sputtered InN films on Si(111) using a low-growth-rate InN buffer layer. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Enhanced structural quality confirmed by X-ray diffraction and Raman measurements. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Room-temperature photoluminescence emission at 1.58 eV. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer InN films deposited with buffer layer on Si comparable to InN LAYERS on GaN templates.

  6. High-rate sputter deposition of NiAl on sapphire fibers

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Reichert, K.; Martinez, C.; Cremer, R.; Neuschuetz, D. [Lehrstuhl fuer Theoretische Huettenkunde, RWTH Aachen, Aachen (Germany)

    2002-07-01

    Once the fiber-matrix bonding has been optimized to meet the different requirements during fabrication and operation of the later composite component, sapphire fiber reinforced NiAl will be a potential candidate to substitute conventional superalloys as structural material for gas turbine blades. To improve the composite fabrication process, a direct deposition of the intermetallic matrix material onto hBN coated sapphire fibers prior to the consolidation of the fiber-matrix composite is proposed. It is believed that this will simplify the fabrication process and prevent pore formation during the diffusion bonding. In addition, the fiber volume fraction can be quite easily adjusted by varying the NiAl coating thickness. For this, a high-rate deposition of NiAl is in any case necessary. It has been achieved by a pulsed DC magnetron sputtering of combined Al-Ni targets with the fibers rotating between the two facing cathodes. The obtained nickel aluminide coatings were analyzed as to structure and composition by means of X-ray (GIXRD) as well as electron diffraction (RHEED) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), respectively. The morphology of the NiAl coatings was examined by SEM. (orig.)

  7. The rf-power dependences of the deposition rate, the hardness and the corrosion-resistance of the chromium nitride film deposited by using a dual ion beam sputtering system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lim, Jongmin; Lee, Chongmu

    2006-01-01

    The hexavalent chromium used in chromium plating is so toxic that it is very hazardous to human body and possibly causes cancer in humans. Therefore, it is indispensable to develop an alternative deposition technique. Dependences of the deposition rate, the phases, the hardness, the surface roughness and the corrosion-resistance of CrN x deposited on the high speed steel substrate by using a dual ion beam sputtering system on the rf-power were investigated to see the feasibility of sputtering as an alternative technique for chromium plating. The dual ion beam sputtering system used in this study was designed in such a way as the primary argon ion beam and the secondary nitrogen ion beam are injected toward the target and the substrate, respectively so that the chromium atoms at the chromium target surface may not nearly react with nitrogen atoms. The hardness and the surface roughness were measured by a micro-Vicker's hardness tester and an atomic force microscope (AFM), respectively. X-ray diffraction analyses were performed to identify phases in the films. The deposition rate of CrN x depends more strongly upon the rf-power for argon ion beam than that for nitrogen ion beam. The hardness of the CrN x film is highest when the volume percent of the Cr 2 N phase in the film is highest. Amorphous films are obtained when the rf-power for nitrogen ion beam is much higher than that for argon ion beam. The CrN x film deposited by using the sputtering technique under the optimal condition provides corrosion-resistance comparable to that of the electroplated chromium

  8. Development of an inductively coupled impulse sputtering source for coating deposition

    Science.gov (United States)

    Loch, Daniel Alexander Llewellyn

    In recent years, highly ionised pulsed plasma processes have had a great impact on improving the coating performance of various applications, such as for cutting tools and ITO coatings, allowing for a longer service life and improved defect densities. These improvements stem from the higher ionisation degree of the sputtered material in these processes and with this the possibility of controlling the flux of sputtered material, allowing the regulation of the hardness and density of coatings and the ability to sputter onto complex contoured substrates. The development of Inductively Coupled Impulse Sputtering (ICIS) is aimed at the potential of utilising the advantages of highly ionised plasma for the sputtering of ferromagnetic material. In traditional magnetron based sputter processes ferromagnetic materials would shunt the magnetic field of the magnetron, thus reducing the sputter yield and ionisation efficiency. By generating the plasma within a high power pulsed radio frequency (RF) driven coil in front of the cathode, it is possible to remove the need for a magnetron by applying a high voltage pulsed direct current to the cathode attracting argon ions from the plasma to initiate sputtering. This is the first time that ICIS technology has been deployed in a sputter coating system. To study the characteristics of ICIS, current and voltage waveforms have been measured to examine the effect of increasing RF-power. Plasma analysis has been conducted by optical emission spectroscopy to investigate the excitation mechanisms and the emission intensity. These are correlated to the set RF-power by modelling assumptions based on electron collisions. Mass spectroscopy is used to measure the plasma potential and ion energy distribution function. Pure copper, titanium and nickel coatings have been deposited on silicon with high aspect ratio via to measure the deposition rate and characterise the microstructure. For titanium and nickel the emission modelling results are in

  9. Effect of N_2 flow rate on the properties of N doped TiO_2 films deposited by DC coupled RF magnetron sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Peng, Shou; Yang, Yong; Li, Gang; Jiang, Jiwen; Jin, Kewu; Yao, TingTing; Zhang, Kuanxiang; Cao, Xin; Wang, Yun; Xu, Genbao

    2016-01-01

    N doped TiO_2 films were deposited on glass substrates at room temperature using DC coupled RF magnetron sputtering with a TiO_2 ceramic target. The influences of N_2 flow rate on the deposition rate, crystal structure, chemical composition and band gap of the deposited films were investigated by Optical profiler, X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscope and ultraviolet-visible spectrophotometer. The film growth rate gradually decreased with increasing N_2 flow rate. As N_2 flow rate increased, the crystallization of the films deteriorated, and the films tended to form amorphous structure. XPS analysis revealed that N dopant atoms were added at the substitutional sites into TiO_2 lattice structure. FE-SEM results showed that the grain size of the film decreased and the crystallinity degraded as N_2 flow rate increases. In addition, N doping caused an obvious red shift in the optical absorption edge. - Highlights: • N doped TiO_2 films were deposited by DC coupled RF magnetron reactive sputtering. • As N_2 flow rate increases, the crystallization of the deposited films degrades. • The higher N_2 flow rate is beneficial to form more substituted N in the film. • N doping causes an obvious red shift in the absorption wavelength.

  10. High-rate deposition of Ta-doped SnO2 films by reactive magnetron sputtering using a Sn–Ta metal-sintered target

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Muto, Y.; Nakatomi, S.; Oka, N.; Iwabuchi, Y.; Kotsubo, H.; Shigesato, Y.

    2012-01-01

    Ta-doped SnO 2 films were deposited on glass substrate (either unheated or heated at 200 °C) by reactive magnetron sputtering with a Sn–Ta metal-sintered target using a plasma control unit (PCU) and mid-frequency (mf, 50 kHz) unipolar pulsing. The PCU feedback system precisely controlled the flow of the reactive and sputtering gases (O 2 and Ar, respectively) by monitoring either discharge impedance or the plasma emission of the atomic O* line at 777 nm. The planar target was connected to the switching unit, which was operated in unipolar pulse mode. Power density on the target was maintained at 4.4 W cm −2 during deposition. The lowest obtained resistivity for the films deposited on heated substrate was 6.4 × 10 −3 Ωcm, where the deposition rate was 250 nm min −1 .

  11. Comparative studies on damages to organic layer during the deposition of ITO films by various sputtering methods

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lei, Hao; Wang, Meihan; Hoshi, Yoichi; Uchida, Takayuki; Kobayashi, Shinichi; Sawada, Yutaka

    2013-11-01

    Aluminum (III) bis(2-methyl-8-quninolinato)-4-phenylphenolate (BAlq) was respectively bombarded and irradiated by Ar ions, oxygen ions, electron beam and ultraviolet light to confirm damages during the sputter-deposition of transparent conductive oxide (TCO) on organic layer. The degree of damage was evaluated by the photoluminescence (PL) spectra of BAlq. The results confirmed the oxygen ions led to a larger damage and were thought to play the double roles of bombardment to organic layer and reaction with organic layer as well. The comparative studies on PL spectra of BAlq after the deposition of TCO films by various sputtering systems, such as conventional magnetron sputtering (MS), low voltage sputtering (LVS) and kinetic-energy-control-deposition (KECD) system, facing target sputtering (FTS) were performed. Relative to MS, LVS and KECD system, FTS can completely suppress the bombardment of the secondary electrons and oxygen negative ions, and keep a higher deposition rate simultaneously, thus it is a good solution to attain a low-damage sputter-deposition.

  12. Comparative studies on damages to organic layer during the deposition of ITO films by various sputtering methods

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lei, Hao, E-mail: haolei@imr.ac.cn [State Key Laboratory for Corrosion and Protection, Division of Surface Engineering of Materials, Institute of Metal Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang 110016 (China); Wang, Meihan [College of Mechanical Engineering, Shenyang University, Shenyang 110044 (China); Hoshi, Yoichi; Uchida, Takayuki; Kobayashi, Shinichi; Sawada, Yutaka [Center for Hyper Media Research, Tokyo Polytechnic University, 1583 Iiyama, Atsugi, Kanagawa 243-0297 (Japan)

    2013-11-15

    Aluminum (III) bis(2-methyl-8-quninolinato)-4-phenylphenolate (BAlq) was respectively bombarded and irradiated by Ar ions, oxygen ions, electron beam and ultraviolet light to confirm damages during the sputter-deposition of transparent conductive oxide (TCO) on organic layer. The degree of damage was evaluated by the photoluminescence (PL) spectra of BAlq. The results confirmed the oxygen ions led to a larger damage and were thought to play the double roles of bombardment to organic layer and reaction with organic layer as well. The comparative studies on PL spectra of BAlq after the deposition of TCO films by various sputtering systems, such as conventional magnetron sputtering (MS), low voltage sputtering (LVS) and kinetic-energy-control-deposition (KECD) system, facing target sputtering (FTS) were performed. Relative to MS, LVS and KECD system, FTS can completely suppress the bombardment of the secondary electrons and oxygen negative ions, and keep a higher deposition rate simultaneously, thus it is a good solution to attain a low-damage sputter-deposition.

  13. Entrapment of krypton in sputter deposited metals: a storage medium for radioactive gases

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tingey, G.L.; McClanahan, E.D.; Bayne, M.A.; Moss, R.W.

    1979-04-01

    Sputter deposition of metals with a negative substrate bias results in a deposit containing relatively large concentrations of the sputtering gas. This phenomenon has been applied as a technique for storage of the radioactive gas, 85 Kr, which is generated in nuclear fuels for power production. Alloys which sputter to yield an amorphous product have been shown to contain up to 12 atom % Kr [42 cm 3 of Kr(STP)/g of deposit; concentration equivalent to a gas at 4380 psi pressure]. Release from these metals occurs at so low a rate that extrapolation to long times yields a 85 Kr release at 300 0 C of about 0.06% in 100 years. A preliminary evaluation of the engineering feasibility and economics of the sputtering process indicates that 85 Kr can be effectively trapped in a solid matrix with currently available techniques on a scale required for handling DOE-generated waste or commercial reprocessed fuels and that the cost should not be a limiting factor

  14. Comparative study of the characteristics of Ni films deposited on SiO2/Si(100) by oblique-angle sputtering and conventional sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yu Mingpeng; Qiu Hong; Chen Xiaobai; Wu Ping; Tian Yue

    2008-01-01

    Ni films were deposited on SiO 2 /Si(100) substrates at 300 K and 573 K by oblique-angle sputtering and conventional sputtering. The films deposited at 300 K mainly have a [110] crystalline orientation in the growing direction whereas those deposited at 573 K grow with a [111] crystalline orientation in the growing direction. The film prepared only at 300 K by oblique-angle sputtering grows with a weakly preferential orientation along the incidence direction of the sputtered Ni atoms. All the films grow with thin columnar grains perpendicular to the substrate surface. The grain size of the films sputter-deposited obliquely is larger than that of the films sputter-deposited conventionally. The grain size of the Ni film does not change markedly with the deposition temperature. The film deposited at 573 K by oblique-angle sputtering has the highest saturation magnetization. For the conventional sputtering, the coercivity of the Ni film deposited at 573 K is larger than that of the film deposited at 300 K. However, for the oblique-angle sputtering, the coercivity of the Ni film is independent of the deposition temperature. All the Ni films exhibit an isotropic magnetization characteristic in the film plane

  15. Studies on ion scattering and sputtering processes relevant to ion beam sputter deposition of multicomponent thin films

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Auciello, O.; Ameen, M.S.; Kingon, A.I.

    1989-01-01

    Results from computer simulation and experiments on ion scattering and sputtering processes in ion beam sputter deposition of high Tc superconducting and ferroelectric thin films are presented. It is demonstrated that scattering of neutralized ions from the targets can result in undesirable erosion of, and inert gas incorporation in, the growing films, depending on the ion/target atom ass ratio and ion beam angle of incidence/target/substrate geometry. The studies indicate that sputtering Kr + or Xe + ions is preferable to the most commonly used Ar + ions, since the undesirable phenomena mentioned above are minimized for the first two ions. These results are used to determine optimum sputter deposition geometry and ion beam parameters for growing multicomponent oxide thin films by ion beam sputter-deposition. 10 refs., 5 figs

  16. Features of copper coatings growth at high-rate deposition using magnetron sputtering systems with a liquid metal target

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Bleykher, G.A.; Borduleva, A.O.; Yuryeva, A.V.; Krivobokov, V.P.; Lančok, Ján; Bulíř, Jiří; Drahokoupil, Jan; Klimša, Ladislav; Kopeček, Jaromír; Fekete, Ladislav; Čtvrtlík, Radim; Tomáštík, Jan

    2017-01-01

    Roč. 324, Sep (2017), s. 111-120 ISSN 0257-8972 R&D Projects: GA MŠk LO1409; GA MŠk LM2015088 Institutional support: RVO:68378271 Keywords : magnetron sputtering * evaporation * high-rate coating deposition * coating properties * Cu coatings Subject RIV: BM - Solid Matter Physics ; Magnetism OBOR OECD: Condensed matter physics (including formerly solid state physics, supercond.) Impact factor: 2.589, year: 2016

  17. Turnover of texture in low rate sputter-deposited nanocrystalline molybdenum films

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Druesedau, T.P.; Klabunde, F.; Loehmann, M.; Hempel, T.; Blaesing, J.

    1997-01-01

    The crystallite size and orientation in molybdenum films prepared by magnetron sputtering at a low rate of typical 1 (angstrom)s and a pressure of 0.45 Pa was investigated by X-ray diffraction and texture analysis. The surface topography was studied using atomic force microscopy. Increasing the film thickness from 20 nm to 3 microm, the films show a turnover from a (110) fiber texture to a (211) mosaic-like texture. In the early state of growth (20 nm thickness) the development of dome-like structures on the surface is observed. The number of these structures increases with film thickness, whereas their size is weakly influenced. The effect of texture turnover is reduced by increasing the deposition rate by a factor of six, and it is absent for samples mounted above the center of the magnetron source. The effect of texture turnover is related to the bombardment of the films with high energetic argon neutrals resulting from backscattering at the target under oblique angle and causing resputtering. Due to the narrow angular distribution of the reflected argon, bombardment of the substrate plane is inhomogeneous and only significant for regions close to the erosion zone of the magnetron

  18. Effect of N{sub 2} flow rate on the properties of N doped TiO{sub 2} films deposited by DC coupled RF magnetron sputtering

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Peng, Shou [State Key Laboratory of Silicate Materials for Architectures, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan 430000 (China); State Key Laboratory of Advanced Technology for Float Glass, Bengbu Design & Research Institute for Glass Industry, Bengbu 233000 (China); Yang, Yong, E-mail: 88087113@163.com [State Key Laboratory of Advanced Technology for Float Glass, Bengbu Design & Research Institute for Glass Industry, Bengbu 233000 (China); Li, Gang; Jiang, Jiwen; Jin, Kewu; Yao, TingTing; Zhang, Kuanxiang [State Key Laboratory of Advanced Technology for Float Glass, Bengbu Design & Research Institute for Glass Industry, Bengbu 233000 (China); Cao, Xin [State Key Laboratory of Advanced Technology for Float Glass, Bengbu Design & Research Institute for Glass Industry, Bengbu 233000 (China); School of Materials Science and Engineering, Dalian Jiaotong University, Dalian 116000 (China); Wang, Yun; Xu, Genbao [State Key Laboratory of Advanced Technology for Float Glass, Bengbu Design & Research Institute for Glass Industry, Bengbu 233000 (China)

    2016-09-05

    N doped TiO{sub 2} films were deposited on glass substrates at room temperature using DC coupled RF magnetron sputtering with a TiO{sub 2} ceramic target. The influences of N{sub 2} flow rate on the deposition rate, crystal structure, chemical composition and band gap of the deposited films were investigated by Optical profiler, X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscope and ultraviolet-visible spectrophotometer. The film growth rate gradually decreased with increasing N{sub 2} flow rate. As N{sub 2} flow rate increased, the crystallization of the films deteriorated, and the films tended to form amorphous structure. XPS analysis revealed that N dopant atoms were added at the substitutional sites into TiO{sub 2} lattice structure. FE-SEM results showed that the grain size of the film decreased and the crystallinity degraded as N{sub 2} flow rate increases. In addition, N doping caused an obvious red shift in the optical absorption edge. - Highlights: • N doped TiO{sub 2} films were deposited by DC coupled RF magnetron reactive sputtering. • As N{sub 2} flow rate increases, the crystallization of the deposited films degrades. • The higher N{sub 2} flow rate is beneficial to form more substituted N in the film. • N doping causes an obvious red shift in the absorption wavelength.

  19. Shape memory effect and microstructures of sputter-deposited Cu-Al-Ni films

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Minemura, T.; Andoh, H.; Kita, Y.; Ikuta, I.

    1985-01-01

    The shape memory effect has been found in many alloy systems which exhibit a thermoelastic martensite transformation. Cu-Al-Ni alloys exhibit an excellent shape memory effect in single crystalline states, but they have not yet been commercially used due to their brittle fracture along the grain boundaries in polycrystalline states. This letter reports the shape memory effect and microstructures of the sputter-deposited Cu-Al-Ni films. Cu-14%Al-4%Ni alloy ingot was prepared. A target for sputter deposition was cut from the ingot. Aluminium foils (20 μm thick) were used for the substrates of sputter deposition. The microstructures and crystal structures of the films were investigated by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and X-ray diffraction using CuKα radiation, respectively. The effect of the sputtering conditions such as substrate temperature, partial pressure of argon gas, and the sputtering power on the structures of sputter-deposited Cu-14%Al-4%Ni films were investigated by X-ray diffraction. Results are shown and discussed. Photographs demonstrate shape memory behaviour of Cu-14%Al-4%Ni films sputter-deposited on aluminium foils from (a) liquid nitrogen temperature to (d) room temperature. (author)

  20. Hydroxyapatite formation on biomedical Ti–Ta–Zr alloys by magnetron sputtering and electrochemical deposition

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kim, Hyun-Ju [Department of Dental Materials, Research Center of Nano-Interface Activation for Biomaterials, and Research Center for Oral Disease Regulation of the Aged, School of Dentistry, Chosun University, Gwangju (Korea, Republic of); Jeong, Yong-Hoon [Biomechanics and Tissue Engineering Laboratory, Division of Orthodontics, College of Dentistry, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH (United States); Choe, Han-Cheol, E-mail: hcchoe@chosun.ac.kr [Department of Dental Materials, Research Center of Nano-Interface Activation for Biomaterials, and Research Center for Oral Disease Regulation of the Aged, School of Dentistry, Chosun University, Gwangju (Korea, Republic of); Brantley, William A. [Division of Prosthodontics and Restorative Science, College of Dentistry, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH (United States)

    2014-12-01

    The purpose of this study was to investigate hydroxyapatite formation on Ti-25Ta-xZr titanium alloys resulting from radio-frequency magnetron sputtering and electrochemical deposition. Electrochemical deposition of hydroxyapatite (HA) was first carried out using a cyclic voltammetry (CV) method at 80 °C in 5 mM Ca (NO{sub 3}){sub 2} + 3 mM NH{sub 4}H{sub 2}PO{sub 4}. Then a physical vapor deposition (PVD) coating was obtained by a radio-frequency (RF) magnetron sputtering technique. The microstructures, phase transformations, and morphologies of the hydroxyapatite films deposited on the titanium alloys were analyzed by optical microscopy (OM), X-ray diffractometer (XRD), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) and field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM). The morphologies of electrochemically deposited HA showed plate-like shapes on the titanium alloys, and the morphologies of the RF-sputtered HA coating had the appearance droplet particles on the plate-like precipitates that had formed by electrochemical deposition. For the RF-sputtered HA coatings, the Ca/P ratio was increased, compared to that for the electrochemically deposited HA surface. Moreover, the RF-sputtered HA coating, consisting of agglomerated droplet particles on the electrochemically deposited HA surface, had better wettability compared to the bulk titanium alloy surface. - Highlights: • Hydroxyapatite (HA) was deposited on Ti–Ta–Zr alloys by radio-frequency (RF) magnetron sputtering and a cyclic voltammetry. • The morphologies of the RF-sputtered HA coating on electrochemical deposits presented plate-like shapes with a droplet particle. • The Ca/P ratio for RF-sputtered HA coatings was greater than that for electrochemical deposited HA coatings. • The RF-sputtered and electrochemical HA coatings had superior wettability compared to the electrochemically deposited coatings.

  1. Hydroxyapatite formation on biomedical Ti–Ta–Zr alloys by magnetron sputtering and electrochemical deposition

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kim, Hyun-Ju; Jeong, Yong-Hoon; Choe, Han-Cheol; Brantley, William A.

    2014-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to investigate hydroxyapatite formation on Ti-25Ta-xZr titanium alloys resulting from radio-frequency magnetron sputtering and electrochemical deposition. Electrochemical deposition of hydroxyapatite (HA) was first carried out using a cyclic voltammetry (CV) method at 80 °C in 5 mM Ca (NO 3 ) 2 + 3 mM NH 4 H 2 PO 4 . Then a physical vapor deposition (PVD) coating was obtained by a radio-frequency (RF) magnetron sputtering technique. The microstructures, phase transformations, and morphologies of the hydroxyapatite films deposited on the titanium alloys were analyzed by optical microscopy (OM), X-ray diffractometer (XRD), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) and field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM). The morphologies of electrochemically deposited HA showed plate-like shapes on the titanium alloys, and the morphologies of the RF-sputtered HA coating had the appearance droplet particles on the plate-like precipitates that had formed by electrochemical deposition. For the RF-sputtered HA coatings, the Ca/P ratio was increased, compared to that for the electrochemically deposited HA surface. Moreover, the RF-sputtered HA coating, consisting of agglomerated droplet particles on the electrochemically deposited HA surface, had better wettability compared to the bulk titanium alloy surface. - Highlights: • Hydroxyapatite (HA) was deposited on Ti–Ta–Zr alloys by radio-frequency (RF) magnetron sputtering and a cyclic voltammetry. • The morphologies of the RF-sputtered HA coating on electrochemical deposits presented plate-like shapes with a droplet particle. • The Ca/P ratio for RF-sputtered HA coatings was greater than that for electrochemical deposited HA coatings. • The RF-sputtered and electrochemical HA coatings had superior wettability compared to the electrochemically deposited coatings

  2. Understanding deposition rate loss in high power impulse magnetron sputtering: I. Ionization-driven electric fields

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Brenning, N; Huo, C; Raadu, M A; Lundin, D; Helmersson, U; Vitelaru, C; Stancu, G D; Minea, T

    2012-01-01

    The lower deposition rate for high power impulse magnetron sputtering (HiPIMS) compared with direct current magnetron sputtering for the same average power is often reported as a drawback. The often invoked reason is back-attraction of ionized sputtered material to the target due to a substantial negative potential profile, sometimes called an extended presheath, from the location of ionization toward the cathode. Recent studies in HiPIMS devices, using floating-emitting and swept-Langmuir probes, show that such extended potential profiles do exist, and that the electric fields E z directed toward the target can be strong enough to seriously reduce ion transport to the substrate. However, they also show that the potential drops involved can vary by up to an order of magnitude from case to case. There is a clear need to understand the underlying mechanisms and identify the key discharge variables that can be used for minimizing the back-attraction. We here present a combined theoretical and experimental analysis of the problem of electric fields E z in the ionization region part of HiPIMS discharges, and their effect on the transport of ionized sputtered material. In particular, we have investigated the possibility of a ‘sweet spot’ in parameter space in which the back-attraction of ionized sputtered material is low. It is concluded that a sweet spot might possibly exist for some carefully optimized discharges, but probably in a rather narrow window of parameters. As a measure of how far a discharge is from such a window, a Townsend product Π Townsend is proposed. A parametric analysis of Π Townsend shows that the search for a sweet spot is complicated by the fact that contradictory demands appear for several of the externally controllable parameters such as high/low working gas pressure, short/long pulse length, high/low pulse power and high/low magnetic field strength. (paper)

  3. Indium zinc oxide films deposited on PET by LF magnetron sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kim, Eun Lyoung; Jung, Sang Kooun; Sohn, Sang Ho; Park, Duck Kyu

    2007-01-01

    Indium zinc oxide (IZO) has attracted much attention recently for use in transparent oxide films compared with the ITO film. We carried out the deposition of IZO on a polyethylene terapthalate (PET) substrate at room temperature by a low-frequency (LF) magnetron sputtering system. These films have amorphous structures with excellent electrical stability, surface uniformity and high optical transmittance. The effects of LF applied voltage and O 2 flow rate were investigated. The electrical and optical properties were studied. At optimal deposition conditions, thin films of IZO with a sheet resistance of 32 Ω/sq and an optical transmittance of over 80% in the visible spectrum range were achieved. The IZO thin films fabricated by this method do not require substrate heating during the film preparation of any additional post-deposition annealing treatment. The experimental results show that films with good qualities of surface morphology, transmittance and electrical conduction can be grown by the LF magnetron sputtering method on PET which is recommendable

  4. Effect of oxygen flow rate on ITO thin films deposited by facing targets sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kim, Youn J.; Jin, Su B.; Kim, Sung I.; Choi, Yoon S.; Choi, In S.; Han, Jeon G.

    2010-01-01

    Tin-doped indium oxide (ITO) thin films were deposited on glass substrates at various oxygen flow rates using a planar magnetron sputtering system with facing targets. In this system, the strong internal magnets inside the target holders confine the plasma between the targets. High resolution transmission electron microscopy revealed a combination of amorphous and crystalline phases on the glass substrate. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy suggested that the decrease in carrier concentration and increase in mobility were caused by a decrease in the concentration of Sn 4+ states. The electrical and optical properties of the ITO films were examined by Hall measurements and UV-visible spectroscopy, which showed a film resistivity and transmittance of 4.26 x l0 -4 Ω cm, and > 80% in the visible region, respectively.

  5. Krypton-85 storage in sputter-deposited amorphous metals

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tingey, G.L.; McClanahan, E.D.; Lytle, J.M.; Gordon, N.R.; Knoll, R.W.

    1982-06-01

    After comparing options for storing radioactive krypton gas, the United States Department of Energy selected ion implantation of the gas into a sputter-deposited metal matrix as the reference process. This technique is being developed with pilot-scale testing and further characterization of the deposited product. The process involves implanting krypton atoms into a growing deposit during the sputtering process. An amorphous metal deposit of nominal composition Ni 0 81 La 0 09 Kr 0 10 has been selected for further studies because of the high krypton loading, high sputtering yield, relatively low cost of the metallic components, resistance to corrosion, and stability of the product. The krypton release from this amorphous metal is described as an activated diffusion process which increases linearly with the square root of time. Studies of krypton release rate as a function of temperature were completed and an activation energy for the diffusion of 70 kcal/mole obtained. From these data, we estimated that the krypton release during the first ten years would be 0.5% for a maximum temperature of 350 0 C. The actual release of the krypton during storage was projected to be lower by a factor of 10 7 with the maximum temperature only 220 0 C. Thermal analysis studies show two energy releases occurring with krypton-containing alloys: one associated with recrystallization of the amorphous alloy and a second associated with krypton release. The total energy release between 100 and 800 0 C was less than 50 cal/g. Estimates are given for the cost of operation of the ion implantation process for solidification of the krypton-85 from a 2000-tonne heavy metal/year reprocessing plant. The present value costs, in 1981 dollars including capital and operating costs and assuming a 30-year life, are about $26M for the lifetime of the plant. Annual energy consumption of the process was estimated to be 3.9 M kWh/year

  6. Heat treatable indium tin oxide films deposited with high power pulse magnetron sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Horstmann, F.; Sittinger, V.; Szyszka, B.

    2009-01-01

    In this study, indium tin oxide (ITO) films were prepared by high power pulse magnetron sputtering [D. J. Christie, F. Tomasel, W. D. Sproul, D. C. Carter, J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A, 22 (2004) 1415. ] without substrate heating. The ITO films were deposited from a ceramic target at a deposition rate of approx. 5.5 nm*m/min kW. Afterwards, the ITO films were covered with a siliconoxynitride film sputtered from a silicon alloy target in order to prevent oxidation of the ITO film during annealing at 650 deg. C for 10 min in air. The optical and electrical properties as well as the texture and morphology of these films were investigated before and after annealing. Mechanical durability of the annealed films was evaluated at different test conditions. The results were compared with state-of-the art ITO films which were obtained at optimized direct current magnetron sputtering conditions

  7. Comparison of lanthanum substituted bismuth titanate (BLT) thin films deposited by sputtering and pulsed laser deposition

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Besland, M.P.; Djani-ait Aissa, H.; Barroy, P.R.J.; Lafane, S.; Tessier, P.Y.; Angleraud, B.; Richard-Plouet, M.; Brohan, L.; Djouadi, M.A.

    2006-01-01

    Bi 4-x La x Ti 3 O 12 (BLT x ) (x = 0 to 1) thin films were grown on silicon (100) and platinized substrates Pt/TiO 2 /SiO 2 /Si using RF diode sputtering, magnetron sputtering and pulsed laser deposition (PLD). Stoichiometric home-synthesized targets were used. Reactive sputtering was investigated in argon/oxygen gas mixture, with a pressure ranging from 0.33 to 10 Pa without heating the substrate. PLD was investigated in pure oxygen, at a chamber pressure of 20 Pa for a substrate temperature of 400-440 deg. C. Comparative structural, chemical, optical and morphological characterizations of BLT thin films have been performed by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS), X-Ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS), Spectro-ellipsometric measurements (SE) and Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM). Both sputtering techniques allow to obtain uniform films with thickness ranging from 200 to 1000 nm and chemical composition varying from (Bi,La) 2 Ti 3 O 12 to (Bi,La) 4.5 Ti 3 O 12 , depending on deposition pressure and RF power. In addition, BLT films deposited by magnetron sputtering, at a pressure deposition ranging from 1.1 to 5 Pa, were well-crystallized after a post-deposition annealing at 650 deg. C in oxygen. They exhibit a refractive index and optical band gap of 2.7 and 3.15 eV, respectively. Regarding PLD, single phase and well-crystallized, 100-200 nm thick BLT films with a stoichiometric (Bi,La) 4 Ti 3 O 12 chemical composition were obtained, exhibiting in addition a preferential orientation along (200). It is worth noting that BLT films deposited by magnetron sputtering are as well-crystallized than PLD ones

  8. Preliminary results on adhesion improvement using Ion Beam Sputtering Deposition

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kim, Yonggi; Kim, Bomsok; Lee, Jaesang [Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

    2013-05-15

    Sputtering is an established technique for depositing films with smooth surfaces and interfaces and good thick control. Ejection of articles from a condensed matter due to impingement of high energy particles, termed as sputtering was observed as early as in 1852, however, it is only recently that the complex process of sputtering system. Coating adhesion and environmental stability of the ion beam sputtering deposition coatings performed very well. High-energy high-current ion beam thin film synthesis of adhesion problems can be solved by using. Enhancement of adhesion in thin film synthesis, using high energy and high current ion beam, of mobile phones, car parts and other possible applications in the related industry Alternative technology of wet chrome plating, considering environment and unit cost, for car parts and esthetic improvement on surface of domestic appliances.

  9. Preliminary results on adhesion improvement using Ion Beam Sputtering Deposition

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kim, Yonggi; Kim, Bomsok; Lee, Jaesang

    2013-01-01

    Sputtering is an established technique for depositing films with smooth surfaces and interfaces and good thick control. Ejection of articles from a condensed matter due to impingement of high energy particles, termed as sputtering was observed as early as in 1852, however, it is only recently that the complex process of sputtering system. Coating adhesion and environmental stability of the ion beam sputtering deposition coatings performed very well. High-energy high-current ion beam thin film synthesis of adhesion problems can be solved by using. Enhancement of adhesion in thin film synthesis, using high energy and high current ion beam, of mobile phones, car parts and other possible applications in the related industry Alternative technology of wet chrome plating, considering environment and unit cost, for car parts and esthetic improvement on surface of domestic appliances

  10. Deposition of amino-rich thin films by RF magnetron sputtering of nylon

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kylian, O; Hanus, J; Choukourov, A; Kousal, J; SlavInska, D; Biederman, H, E-mail: ondrej.kylian@gmail.co [Charles University, Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, V Holesovickach 2, Prague 8, 180 00 (Czech Republic)

    2009-07-21

    RF magnetron sputtering of a nylon target in different gas mixtures was studied in order to evaluate the capability of this process to deposit amino-rich coatings needed in a wide range of biomedical applications. It has been demonstrated that both the deposition rate of the coatings and the surface density of primary amino groups are strongly linked with working gas mixture composition. From this point of view, a sufficiently high deposition rate as well as the highest amine efficiency reaching a NH{sub 2}/C value of 18% was observed in the N{sub 2}/H{sub 2} discharge, which leads to the surface exhibiting a high rate of protein adsorption. (fast track communication)

  11. Ion-assisted sputter deposition of molybdenum--silicon multilayers

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Vernon, S.P.; Stearns, D.G.; Rosen, R.S.

    1993-01-01

    X-ray multilayer (ML) structures that are fabricated by the use of magnetron-sputter deposition exhibit a degradation in structural quality as the deposition pressure is increased. The observed change in morphology is attributed to a reduced mobility of surface adsorbed atoms, which inhibits the formation of smooth, continuous layers. The application of a negative substrate bias produces ion bombardment of the growing film surface by sputtering gas ions extracted from the plasma and permits direct control of the energy density supplied to the film surface during thin-film growth. The technique supplements the energy lost to thermalization in high-pressure deposition and permits the fabrication of high-quality ML structures at elevated processing pressures. A threefold improvement in the soft-x-ray normal-incidence reflectance at 130 A results for substrate bias voltages of the order of ∼-150 V for Mo--Si ML's deposited at 10-mTorr Ar

  12. Dust cloud evolution in sub-stellar atmospheres via plasma deposition and plasma sputtering

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stark, C. R.; Diver, D. A.

    2018-04-01

    Context. In contemporary sub-stellar model atmospheres, dust growth occurs through neutral gas-phase surface chemistry. Recently, there has been a growing body of theoretical and observational evidence suggesting that ionisation processes can also occur. As a result, atmospheres are populated by regions composed of plasma, gas and dust, and the consequent influence of plasma processes on dust evolution is enhanced. Aim. This paper aims to introduce a new model of dust growth and destruction in sub-stellar atmospheres via plasma deposition and plasma sputtering. Methods: Using example sub-stellar atmospheres from DRIFT-PHOENIX, we have compared plasma deposition and sputtering timescales to those from neutral gas-phase surface chemistry to ascertain their regimes of influence. We calculated the plasma sputtering yield and discuss the circumstances where plasma sputtering dominates over deposition. Results: Within the highest dust density cloud regions, plasma deposition and sputtering dominates over neutral gas-phase surface chemistry if the degree of ionisation is ≳10-4. Loosely bound grains with surface binding energies of the order of 0.1-1 eV are susceptible to destruction through plasma sputtering for feasible degrees of ionisation and electron temperatures; whereas, strong crystalline grains with binding energies of the order 10 eV are resistant to sputtering. Conclusions: The mathematical framework outlined sets the foundation for the inclusion of plasma deposition and plasma sputtering in global dust cloud formation models of sub-stellar atmospheres.

  13. Sputter deposition of tantalum-nitride films on copper using an rf-plasma

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Walter, K.C.; Fetherston, R.P.; Sridharan, K.; Chen, A.; Shamim, M.M.; Conrad, J.R.

    1994-01-01

    A tantalum-nitride film was successfully deposited at ambient temperature on copper with a modified ion-assisted-deposition (IAD) technique. The process uses an argon and nitrogen plasma to sputter deposit from a tantalum rf-cathode and ion implant the deposited film simultaneously. Both argon and nitrogen ions are used for sputtering and ion implantation. Auger spectroscopy and x-ray diffraction were used to characterize the resulting film

  14. Effect of residual gas on structural, electrical and mechanical properties of niobium films deposited by magnetron sputtering deposition

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Lanruo; Zhong, Yuan; Li, Jinjin; Cao, Wenhui; Zhong, Qing; Wang, Xueshen; Li, Xu

    2018-04-01

    Magnetron sputtering is an important method in the superconducting thin films deposition. The residual gas inside the vacuum chamber will directly affect the quality of the superconducting films. In this paper, niobium films are deposited by magnetron sputtering under different chamber residual gas conditions. The influence of baking and sputtering process on residual gas are studied as well. Surface morphology, electrical and mechanical properties of the films are analysed. The residual gas analysis result before the sputtering process could be regarded as a reference condition to achieve high quality superconducting thin films.

  15. Physical characterization of sputter-deposited amorphous tungsten oxynitride thin films

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Nunez, O.R.; Moreno Tarango, A.J. [Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, TX 79968 (United States); Murphy, N.R. [Air Force Research Laboratory, Materials and Manufacturing Directorate, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base (WPAFB), Dayton, OH 45433 (United States); Phinney, L.C.; Hossain, K. [Amethyst Research Inc., 123 Case Circle, Ardmore, OK 73401 (United States); Ramana, C.V., E-mail: rvchintalapalle@utep.edu [Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, TX 79968 (United States)

    2015-12-01

    Tungsten oxynitride (W–O–N) thin films were deposited onto silicon (100) and quartz substrates using direct current (DC) sputtering. Composition variations in the W–O–N films were obtained by varying the nitrogen gas flow rate from 0 to 20 sccm, while keeping the total gas flow constant at 40 sccm using 20 sccm of argon with the balance comprised of oxygen. The resulting crystallinity, optical properties, and chemical composition of the DC sputtered W–O–N films were evaluated. All the W–O–N films measured were shown to be amorphous using X-ray diffraction. Spectrophotometry results indicate that the optical parameters, namely, the transmission magnitude and band gap (E{sub g}), are highly dependent on the nitrogen content in the reactive gas mixture. Within the W–O–N system, E{sub g} was able to be precisely tailored between 2.9 eV and 1.9 eV, corresponding to fully stoichiometric WO{sub 3} and highly nitrided W–O–N, respectively. Rutherford backscattering spectrometry (RBS) coupled with X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) measurements indicate that the composition of the films varies from WO{sub 3} to W–O–N composite oxynitride films. - Highlights: • W–O–N films of ~ 100 nm thick were sputter-deposited by varying nitrogen gas flow rate. • Nitrogen incorporation into W-oxide is effective at or after 9 sccm flow rate of nitrogen. • The band gap significantly decreases from ~ 3.0 eV to ~ 2.1 eV with progressive increase in nitrogen content. • A composite oxide-semiconductor of W–O–N is proposed to explain the optical properties.

  16. Low-damage high-throughput grazing-angle sputter deposition on graphene

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Chen, C.-T.; Gajek, M.; Raoux, S. [IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center, Yorktown Heights, New York 10598 (United States); Casu, E. A. [IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center, Yorktown Heights, New York 10598 (United States); Politecnico di Torino, Turin 10129 (Italy)

    2013-07-15

    Despite the prevalence of sputter deposition in the microelectronics industry, it has seen very limited applications for graphene electronics. In this letter, we report systematic investigation of the sputtering induced damages in graphene and identify the energetic sputtering gas neutrals as the primary cause of graphene disorder. We further demonstrate a grazing-incidence sputtering configuration that strongly suppresses fast neutral bombardment and retains graphene structure integrity, creating considerably lower damage than electron-beam evaporation. Such sputtering technique yields fully covered, smooth thin dielectric films, highlighting its potential for contact metals, gate oxides, and tunnel barriers fabrication in graphene device applications.

  17. Low-damage high-throughput grazing-angle sputter deposition on graphene

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chen, C.-T.; Gajek, M.; Raoux, S.; Casu, E. A.

    2013-01-01

    Despite the prevalence of sputter deposition in the microelectronics industry, it has seen very limited applications for graphene electronics. In this letter, we report systematic investigation of the sputtering induced damages in graphene and identify the energetic sputtering gas neutrals as the primary cause of graphene disorder. We further demonstrate a grazing-incidence sputtering configuration that strongly suppresses fast neutral bombardment and retains graphene structure integrity, creating considerably lower damage than electron-beam evaporation. Such sputtering technique yields fully covered, smooth thin dielectric films, highlighting its potential for contact metals, gate oxides, and tunnel barriers fabrication in graphene device applications

  18. Low-damage high-throughput grazing-angle sputter deposition on graphene

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, C.-T.; Casu, E. A.; Gajek, M.; Raoux, S.

    2013-07-01

    Despite the prevalence of sputter deposition in the microelectronics industry, it has seen very limited applications for graphene electronics. In this letter, we report systematic investigation of the sputtering induced damages in graphene and identify the energetic sputtering gas neutrals as the primary cause of graphene disorder. We further demonstrate a grazing-incidence sputtering configuration that strongly suppresses fast neutral bombardment and retains graphene structure integrity, creating considerably lower damage than electron-beam evaporation. Such sputtering technique yields fully covered, smooth thin dielectric films, highlighting its potential for contact metals, gate oxides, and tunnel barriers fabrication in graphene device applications.

  19. Large-area few-layer MoS 2 deposited by sputtering

    KAUST Repository

    Huang, Jyun-Hong

    2016-06-06

    Direct magnetron sputtering of transition metal dichalcogenide targets is proposed as a new approach for depositing large-area two-dimensional layered materials. Bilayer to few-layer MoS2 deposited by magnetron sputtering followed by post-deposition annealing shows superior area scalability over 20 cm(2) and layer-by-layer controllability. High crystallinity of layered MoS2 was confirmed by Raman, photo-luminescence, and transmission electron microscopy analysis. The sputtering temperature and annealing ambience were found to play an important role in the film quality. The top-gate field-effect transistor by using the layered MoS2 channel shows typical n-type characteristics with a current on/off ratio of approximately 10(4). The relatively low mobility is attributed to the small grain size of 0.1-1 mu m with a trap charge density in grain boundaries of the order of 10(13) cm(-2).

  20. Composition changes in sputter deposition of Y-Ba-Cu-O films

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hoshi, Y.; Naoe, M.

    1989-01-01

    The authors discuss the mechanism of the composition change in sputter deposition of Y-BA-Cu-O film from YBa 2 Cu 3 O 7-chi target investigated by means of a rf planar magnetron sputtering apparatus. Film composition changes significantly with not only substrate temperature Ts and sputtering gas pressure, but also substrate position. Lack of Cu and Ba content is significant in the film deposited at the substrate position just above the erosion area of the sputtering target. Suppression of bombardment of the substrate surface by negative ions emitted from the target and substrate is effective in increasing Cu and Ba content in the film. These results indicate not only that the sticking probability of the sputtered particles changes with Ts and incident particle energy, but also that high energy particle bombardment of the substrate surface plays an important role in the change of the film composition

  1. Structure and soft magnetic properties of sputter deposited MnZn-ferrite films

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Gillies, M.F.; Coehoorn, R.; van Zon, J.B.A.D.; Alders, D.

    1998-01-01

    In this paper we report the soft magnetic properties of thin films of sputtered MnZn ferrite deposited on thermally oxidized Si substrates. A high deposition temperature, 600¿°C, together with the addition of water vapor to the sputtering gas was found to improve the initial ac permeability, µ. The

  2. Sputter deposition and characterisation of hard wear-resistant Ti/TiN multilayers

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Simmonds, M.C.; Swygenhoven, H. van [Paul Scherrer Inst. (PSI), Villigen (Switzerland)

    1997-09-01

    Multilayered Ti/TiN thin films have been synthesized by magnetron sputter deposition. Alternating layers of Ti and TiN with layer thickness in the 5-50 nm range are sequentially deposited. The structure of the films have been characterised by atomic force microscopy (AFM), X-ray diffraction and reflection and Auger depth profiling. The mechanical properties have been investigated using pin-on-disc wear rate testing, nanoindentation determination of hardness and micro scratch testing. (author) 1 fig., 3 refs.

  3. Microstructural variation in titanium oxide thin films deposited by DC magnetron sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pandian, Ramanathaswamy; Natarajan, Gomathi; Kamruddin, M.; Tyagi, A.K.

    2013-01-01

    We report on the microstructural evolution of titanium oxide thin films deposited by reactive DC magnetron sputtering using titanium metal target. By varying the ratio of sputter-gas mixture containing argon, oxygen and nitrogen various phases of titanium oxide, almost pure rutile, rutile-rich and anatase-rich nano-crystalline, were deposited on Si substrates at room temperature. Using high-resolution scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and micro-Raman techniques the microstructure of the films were revealed. The relationship between the microstructure of the films and the oxygen partial pressure during sputtering is discussed

  4. Application of high rate magnetron sputtering to the fabrication of A-15 compounds

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kampwirth, R.T.; Hafstrom, J.W.; Wu, C.T.

    1976-01-01

    High quality Nb 3 Sn films have been fabricated using a recently developed magnetron sputtering process capable of deposition rates approaching 1 μm/min. at sputtering voltages less than 500 V and power levels of about 5 KW. Low sputtering voltages allow more complete thermalization at lower pressures of the material condensing on the substrate which can improve long range order. Transition temperatures of up to 18.3 0 K, J/sub c/(O)'s of 15 x 10 6 A/cm 2 and Hc 2 as high as 240 kOe have been achieved in 1-3 μm films deposited from a Nb 3 Sn reacted powder target with substrate temperatures between 600 and 800 0 C. The films exhibit smooth surfaces and, generally, a [200] preferred orientation. The growth of the film is columnar in nature. The sputtering parameters, substrate material and temperature will be related to film structure T/sub c/ and J/sub c/(H,T) and the Nb/Sn ratio as determined by Rutherford backscattering

  5. Deposition and characterization of titania-silica optical multilayers by asymmetric bipolar pulsed dc sputtering of oxide targets

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sagdeo, P R; Shinde, D D; Misal, J S [Optics and Thin Film Laboratory, Autonagar, BARC-Vizag, Visakhapatnam -530012 (India); Kamble, N M; Tokas, R B; Biswas, A; Poswal, A K; Thakur, S; Bhattacharyya, D; Sahoo, N K; Sabharwal, S C, E-mail: nksahoo@barc.gov.i, E-mail: sahoonk@gmail.co [Spectroscopy Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Trombay, Mumbai 400 085 (India)

    2010-02-03

    Titania-silica (TiO{sub 2}/SiO{sub 2}) optical multilayer structures have been conventionally deposited by reactive sputtering of metallic targets. In order to overcome the problems of arcing, target poisoning and low deposition rates encountered there, the application of oxide targets was investigated in this work with asymmetric bipolar pulsed dc magnetron sputtering. In order to evaluate the usefulness of this deposition methodology, an electric field optimized Fabry Perot mirror for He-Cd laser ({lambda} = 441.6 nm) spectroscopy was deposited and characterized. For comparison, this mirror was also deposited by the reactive electron beam (EB) evaporation technique. The mirrors developed by the two complementary techniques were investigated for their microstructural and optical reflection properties invoking atomic force microscopy, ellipsometry, grazing incidence reflectometry and spectrophotometry. From these measurements the layer geometry, optical constants, mass density, topography, surface and interface roughness and disorder parameters were evaluated. The microstructural properties and spectral functional characteristics of the pulsed dc sputtered multilayer mirror were found to be distinctively superior to the EB deposited mirror. The knowledge gathered during this study has been utilized to develop a 21-layer high-pass edge filter for radio photoluminescence dosimetry.

  6. Deposition and characterization of titania-silica optical multilayers by asymmetric bipolar pulsed dc sputtering of oxide targets

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sagdeo, P R; Shinde, D D; Misal, J S; Kamble, N M; Tokas, R B; Biswas, A; Poswal, A K; Thakur, S; Bhattacharyya, D; Sahoo, N K; Sabharwal, S C

    2010-01-01

    Titania-silica (TiO 2 /SiO 2 ) optical multilayer structures have been conventionally deposited by reactive sputtering of metallic targets. In order to overcome the problems of arcing, target poisoning and low deposition rates encountered there, the application of oxide targets was investigated in this work with asymmetric bipolar pulsed dc magnetron sputtering. In order to evaluate the usefulness of this deposition methodology, an electric field optimized Fabry Perot mirror for He-Cd laser (λ = 441.6 nm) spectroscopy was deposited and characterized. For comparison, this mirror was also deposited by the reactive electron beam (EB) evaporation technique. The mirrors developed by the two complementary techniques were investigated for their microstructural and optical reflection properties invoking atomic force microscopy, ellipsometry, grazing incidence reflectometry and spectrophotometry. From these measurements the layer geometry, optical constants, mass density, topography, surface and interface roughness and disorder parameters were evaluated. The microstructural properties and spectral functional characteristics of the pulsed dc sputtered multilayer mirror were found to be distinctively superior to the EB deposited mirror. The knowledge gathered during this study has been utilized to develop a 21-layer high-pass edge filter for radio photoluminescence dosimetry.

  7. Resputtering effect during MgO buffer layer deposition by magnetron sputtering for superconducting coated conductors

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Xiao, Shaozhu; Shi, Kai; Deng, Shutong; Han, Zhenghe [Applied Superconductivity Research Center, Department of Physics, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084 (China); Feng, Feng, E-mail: feng.feng@sz.tsinghua.edu.cn; Lu, Hongyuan [Division of Advanced Manufacturing, Graduate School at Shenzhen, Tsinghua University, Shenzhen 518055 (China); Qu, Timing; Zhu, Yuping [Department of Mechanical Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084 (China); Huang, Rongxia [School of Electromechanical Engineering, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou 510006 (China)

    2015-07-15

    In this study, MgO thin films were deposited by radio-frequency magnetron sputtering. The film thickness in the deposition area directly facing the target center obviously decreased compared with that in other areas. This reduction in thickness could be attributed to the resputtering effect resulting from bombardment by energetic particles mainly comprising oxygen atoms and negative oxygen ions. The influences of deposition position and sputtering pressure on the deposition rate were investigated. Resputtering altered the orientation of the MgO film from (111) to (001) when the film was deposited on a single crystal yttria-stabilized zirconia substrate. The density distribution of energetic particles was calculated on the basis of the measured thicknesses of the MgO films deposited at different positions. The divergence angle of the energetic particle flux was estimated to be approximately 15°. The energetic particle flux might be similar to the assisting ion flux in the ion beam assisted deposition process and could affect the orientation of the MgO film growth.

  8. The effect of changing the magnetic field strength on HiPIMS deposition rates

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bradley, J W; Mishra, A; Kelly, P J

    2015-01-01

    The marked difference in behaviour between HiPIMS and conventional dc or pulsed-dc magnetron sputtering discharges with changing magnetic field strengths is demonstrated through measurements of deposition rate. To provide a comparison between techniques the same circular magnetron was operated in the three excitation modes at a fixed average power of 680 W and a pressure of 0.54 Pa in the non-reactive sputtering of titanium. The total magnetic field strength B at the cathode surface in the middle of the racetrack was varied from 195 to 380 G. DC and pulsed-dc discharges show the expected behaviour that deposition rates fall with decreasing B (here by ∼25–40%), however the opposite trend is observed in HiPIMS with deposition rates rising by a factor of 2 over the same decrease in B.These observations are understood from the stand point of the different composition and transport processes of the depositing metal flux between the techniques. In HiPIMS, this flux is largely ionic and slow post-ionized sputtered particles are subject to strong back attraction to the target by a retarding plasma potential structure ahead of them. The height of this potential barrier is known to increase with increasing B.From a simple phenomenological model of the sputtered particles fluxes, and using the measured deposition rates from the different techniques as inputs, the combined probabilities of ionization, α, and back attraction, β, of the metal species in HiPIMS has been calculated. There is a clear fall in αβ (from ∼0.9 to ∼0.7) with decreasing B-field strengths, we argue primarily due to a weakening of electrostatic ion back attraction, so leading to higher deposition rates. The results indicate that careful design of magnetron field strengths should be considered to optimise HiPIMS deposition rates. (paper)

  9. Arc-discharge and magnetron sputtering combined equipment for nanocomposite coating deposition

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Koval, N.N.; Borisov, D.P.; Savostikov, V.M.

    2005-01-01

    its initiation and discharge current) or chemical phase composition and properties of coatings. By now, on the basis of arc discharge plasma assistance, nanocomposite coatings of doped titanium nitride with microhardness of 50 GPa (0.2 N load at 1 mm coating thickness). It has been also established that further application of arc gas discharge plasma at magnetron sputtering provides: - Actual control on operating pressure parameters and magnetron discharge current value, i.e. sputtering rate of coating material; - Cleaning and surface activation of a material prior to coating deposition, providing its good adhesion even at low temperature values (∼ 200 o C); - Control on chemical phase composition of deposited coatings and, correspondingly, their physical properties, in particular, increasing microhardness of coatings over 10 GPa. (author)

  10. Computer simulation of scattered ion and sputtered species effects in ion beam sputter-deposition of high temperature superconducting thin films

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Krauss, A.R.; Auciello, O.

    1992-01-01

    Ion beam sputter-deposition is a technique currently used by many groups to produce single and multicomponent thin films. This technique provides several advantages over other deposition methods, which include the capability for yielding higher film density, accurate stoichiometry control, and smooth surfaces. However, the relatively high kinetic energies associated with ion beam sputtering also lead to difficulties if the process is not properly controlled. Computer simulations have been performed to determine net deposition rates, as well as the secondary erosion, lattice damage, and gas implantation in the films, associated with primary ions scattered from elemental Y, Ba and Cu targets used to produce high temperature superconducting Y-Ba-Cu-O films. The simulations were performed using the TRIM code for different ion masses and kinetic energies, and different deposition geometries. Results are presented for primary beams of Ar + , Kr + and Xe + incident on Ba and Cu targets at 0 degrees and 45 degrees with respect to the surface normal, with the substrate positioned at 0 degrees and 45 degrees. The calculations indicate that the target composition, mass and kinetic energy of the primary beam, angle of incidence on the target, and position and orientation of the substrate affect the film damage and trapped primary beam gas by up to 5 orders of magnitude

  11. Effects of nitrogen ion implantation time on tungsten films deposited by DC magnetron sputtering on AISI 410 martensitic stainless steel

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Malau, Viktor, E-mail: malau@ugm.ac.id; Ilman, Mochammad Noer, E-mail: noer-ilman@yahoo.com; Iswanto, Priyo Tri, E-mail: priyatri@yahoo.com; Jatisukamto, Gaguk, E-mail: gagukjtsk@yahoo.co.id [Mechanical and Industrial Engineering Department, Gadjah Mada University Jl. Grafika 2, Yogyakarta, 55281 (Indonesia)

    2016-03-29

    Nitrogen ion implantation time on tungsten thin film deposited on surface of AISI 410 steel has been performed. Tungsten thin film produced by dc magnetron sputtering method was deposited on AISI 410 martensitic stainless steel substrates, and then the nitrogen ions were implanted on tungsten thin film. The objective of this research is to investigate the effects of implantation deposition time on surface roughness, microhardness, specific wear and corrosion rate of nitrogen implanted on tungsten film. Magnetron sputtering process was performed by using plasma gas of argon (Ar) to bombardier tungsten target (W) in a vacuum chamber with a pressure of 7.6 x 10{sup −2} torr, a voltage of 300 V, a sputter current of 80 mA for sputtered time of 10 minutes. Nitrogen implantation on tungsten film was done with an initial pressure of 3x10{sup −6} mbar, a fluence of 2 x 10{sup 17} ions/cm{sup 2}, an energy of 100 keV and implantation deposition times of 0, 20, 30 and 40 minutes. The surface roughness, microhardness, specific wear and corrosion rate of the films were evaluated by surfcorder test, Vickers microhardness test, wear test and potentiostat (galvanostat) test respectively. The results show that the nitrogen ions implanted deposition time on tungsten film can modify the surface roughness, microhardness, specific wear and corrosion rate. The minimum surface roughness, specific wear and corrosion rate can be obtained for implantation time of 20 minutes and the maximum microhardness of the film is 329 VHN (Vickers Hardness Number) for implantation time of 30 minutes. The specific wear and corrosion rate of the film depend directly on the surface roughness.

  12. FAST TRACK COMMUNICATION: Deposition of amino-rich thin films by RF magnetron sputtering of nylon

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kylián, O.; Hanuš, J.; Choukourov, A.; Kousal, J.; Slavínská, D.; Biederman, H.

    2009-07-01

    RF magnetron sputtering of a nylon target in different gas mixtures was studied in order to evaluate the capability of this process to deposit amino-rich coatings needed in a wide range of biomedical applications. It has been demonstrated that both the deposition rate of the coatings and the surface density of primary amino groups are strongly linked with working gas mixture composition. From this point of view, a sufficiently high deposition rate as well as the highest amine efficiency reaching a NH2/C value of 18% was observed in the N2/H2 discharge, which leads to the surface exhibiting a high rate of protein adsorption.

  13. Deuterium trapping in tungsten deposition layers formed by deuterium plasma sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Alimov, V.Kh.; Roth, J.; Shu, W.M.; Komarov, D.A.; Isobe, K.; Yamanishi, T.

    2010-01-01

    A study of the influence of the deposition conditions on the surface morphology and deuterium (D) concentration in tungsten (W) deposition layers formed by magnetron sputtering and in the linear plasma generator has been carried out. Thick W layers (≥0.4 μm) deposited onto copper substrates demonstrate areas of pilling and, after post-deposition heating to 1300 K, flaking-off and fracturing. For thin W layers (≤80 nm) deposited onto stainless steel (SS) and W substrates, no areas of flaking-off and fracturing exist both after deposition and after post-deposition heating to 673 K for the SS substrate and to 1300 K for the W substrate. The concentration of deuterium in the W layers was found to decrease with increasing substrate temperature and with increasing tungsten deposition rate. For layers with relatively high concentration of oxygen (0.20-0.60 O/W), a decrease of the D concentration with increasing substrate temperature is more pronounced than that for layers deposited in good vacuum conditions. To describe the evolution of the D/W ratio with the substrate temperature and the tungsten deposition rate, an empirical equation proposed by De Temmerman and Doerner [J. Nucl. Mater. 389 (2009) 479] but with alternative parameters has been used.

  14. Thermochromic VO2 thin films deposited by magnetron sputtering for smart window applications

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fortier, Jean-Philippe

    "Smart" windows are a perfect innovative example of technology that reduces our energy dependence and our impact on the environment while saving on the economical point of view. With the use of vanadium dioxide (VO2), a thermochromic compound, and this, as a thin coating, it would in fact be possible to control the sun's transmission of infrared light (heat) as a function of the surrounding environment temperature. In other words, its optical behavior would allow a more effective management of heat exchanges between a living venue and the outdoor environment. However, this type of window is still in a developmental stage. First, the oxide's deposition is not simple in nature. Based on a conventional deposition technique called magnetron sputtering mainly used in the fenestration industry, several factors such as the oxygen concentration and the substrate temperature during deposition can affect the coating's thermochromic behavior, and this, by changing its composition and crystallinity. Other control parameters such as the deposition rate, the pressure in the sputtering chamber and the choice of substrate may also modify the film microstructure, thereby varying its optical and electrical properties. In addition, several issues still persist as to its commercial application. For starters, the material's structural transition, related to the change of its optical properties, only occurs around 68°C. In addition, its low transparency and natural greenish colour are not visually appealing. Then, to this day, the deposition temperature required to crystallize and form the thermochromic oxide remains an obstacle for a possible large-scale application. Ultimately, although the material's change in temperature has been shown to be advantageous in situations of varying climate, the existing corrective solutions to these issues generate a deterioration of the thermochromic behavior. With no practical expertise on the material, this project was undertaken with certain

  15. Measurement of deposition rate and ion energy distribution in a pulsed dc magnetron sputtering system using a retarding field analyzer with embedded quartz crystal microbalance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sharma, Shailesh; Gahan, David; Scullin, Paul; Doyle, James; Lennon, Jj; Vijayaraghavan, Rajani K; Daniels, Stephen; Hopkins, M B

    2016-04-01

    A compact retarding field analyzer with embedded quartz crystal microbalance has been developed to measure deposition rate, ionized flux fraction, and ion energy distribution arriving at the substrate location. The sensor can be placed on grounded, electrically floating, or radio frequency (rf) biased electrodes. A calibration method is presented to compensate for temperature effects in the quartz crystal. The metal deposition rate, metal ionization fraction, and energy distribution of the ions arriving at the substrate location are investigated in an asymmetric bipolar pulsed dc magnetron sputtering reactor under grounded, floating, and rf biased conditions. The diagnostic presented in this research work does not suffer from complications caused by water cooling arrangements to maintain constant temperature and is an attractive technique for characterizing a thin film deposition system.

  16. Measurement of deposition rate and ion energy distribution in a pulsed dc magnetron sputtering system using a retarding field analyzer with embedded quartz crystal microbalance

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sharma, Shailesh, E-mail: shailesh.sharma6@mail.dcu.ie [Dublin City University, Glasnevin, Dublin 9 (Ireland); Impedans Limited, Chase House, City Junction Business Park, Northern Cross, D17 AK63, Dublin 17 (Ireland); Gahan, David, E-mail: david.gahan@impedans.com; Scullin, Paul; Doyle, James; Lennon, Jj; Hopkins, M. B. [Impedans Limited, Chase House, City Junction Business Park, Northern Cross, D17 AK63, Dublin 17 (Ireland); Vijayaraghavan, Rajani K.; Daniels, Stephen [Dublin City University, Glasnevin, Dublin 9 (Ireland)

    2016-04-15

    A compact retarding field analyzer with embedded quartz crystal microbalance has been developed to measure deposition rate, ionized flux fraction, and ion energy distribution arriving at the substrate location. The sensor can be placed on grounded, electrically floating, or radio frequency (rf) biased electrodes. A calibration method is presented to compensate for temperature effects in the quartz crystal. The metal deposition rate, metal ionization fraction, and energy distribution of the ions arriving at the substrate location are investigated in an asymmetric bipolar pulsed dc magnetron sputtering reactor under grounded, floating, and rf biased conditions. The diagnostic presented in this research work does not suffer from complications caused by water cooling arrangements to maintain constant temperature and is an attractive technique for characterizing a thin film deposition system.

  17. Novel magnetic controlled plasma sputtering method

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Axelevich, A.; Rabinovich, E.; Golan, G.

    1996-01-01

    A novel method to improve thin film vacuum sputtering is presented. This method is capable of controlling the sputtering plasma via an external set of magnets, in a similar fashion to the tetrode sputtering method. The main advantage of the Magnetic Controlled Plasma Sputtering (MCPS) is its ability to independently control all deposition parameters without any interference or cross-talk. Deposition rate, using the MCPS, is found to be almost twice the rate of triode and tetrode sputtering techniques. Experimental results using the MCPS to deposit Ni layers are described. It was demonstrated that using the MCPS method the ion beam intensity at the target is a result of the interaction of a homogeneous external magnetic field and the controlling magnetic fields. The MCPS method was therefore found to be beneficial for the production of pure stoichiometric thin solid films with high reproducibility. This method could be used for the production of compound thin films as well. (authors)

  18. ZrN coatings deposited by high power impulse magnetron sputtering and cathodic arc techniques

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Purandare, Yashodhan, E-mail: Y.Purandare@shu.ac.uk; Ehiasarian, Arutiun; Hovsepian, Papken [Nanotechnology Centre for PVD Research, Materials and Engineering Research Institute, Sheffield Hallam University, Sheffield S1 1WB (United Kingdom); Santana, Antonio [Ionbond AG Olten, Industriestrasse 211, CH-4600 Olten (Switzerland)

    2014-05-15

    Zirconium nitride (ZrN) coatings were deposited on 1 μm finish high speed steel and 316L stainless steel test coupons. Cathodic Arc (CA) and High Power Impulse Magnetron Sputtering (HIPIMS) + Unbalanced Magnetron Sputtering (UBM) techniques were utilized to deposit coatings. CA plasmas are known to be rich in metal and gas ions of the depositing species as well as macroparticles (droplets) emitted from the arc sports. Combining HIPIMS technique with UBM in the same deposition process facilitated increased ion bombardment on the depositing species during coating growth maintaining high deposition rate. Prior to coating deposition, substrates were pretreated with Zr{sup +} rich plasma, for both arc deposited and HIPIMS deposited coatings, which led to a very high scratch adhesion value (L{sub C2}) of 100 N. Characterization results revealed the overall thickness of the coatings in the range of 2.5 μm with hardness in the range of 30–40 GPa depending on the deposition technique. Cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy and tribological experiments such as dry sliding wear tests and corrosion studies have been utilized to study the effects of ion bombardment on the structure and properties of these coatings. In all the cases, HIPIMS assisted UBM deposited coating fared equal or better than the arc deposited coatings, the reasons being discussed in this paper. Thus H+U coatings provide a good alternative to arc deposited where smooth, dense coatings are required and macrodroplets cannot be tolerated.

  19. Hydrogen and helium trapping in tungsten deposition layers formed by RF plasma sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kazunari Katayama; Kazumi Imaoka; Takayuki Okamura; Masabumi Nishikawa

    2006-01-01

    Understanding of tritium behavior in plasma facing materials is an important issue for fusion reactor from viewpoints of fuel control and radiation safety. Tungsten is used as a plasma facing material in the divertor region of ITER. However, investigation of hydrogen isotope behavior in tungsten deposition layer is not sufficient so far. It is also necessary to evaluate an effect of helium on a formation of deposition layer and an accumulation of hydrogen isotopes because helium generated by fusion reaction exists in fusion plasma. In this study, tungsten deposition layers were formed by sputtering method using hydrogen and helium RF plasma. An erosion rate and a deposition rate of tungsten were estimated by weight measurement. Hydrogen and helium retention were investigated by thermal desorption method. Tungsten deposition was performed using a capacitively-coupled RF plasma device equipped with parallel-plate electrodes. A tungsten target was mounted on one electrode which is supplied with RF power at 200 W. Tungsten substrates were mounted on the other electrode which is at ground potential. The plasma discharge was continued for 120 hours where pressure of hydrogen or helium was controlled to be 10 Pa. The amounts of hydrogen and helium released from deposition layers was quantified by a gas chromatograph. The erosion rate of target tungsten under helium plasma was estimated to be 1.8 times larger than that under hydrogen plasma. The deposition rate on tungsten substrate under helium plasma was estimated to be 4.1 times larger than that under hydrogen plasma. Atomic ratio of hydrogen to tungsten in a deposition layer formed by hydrogen plasma was estimated to be 0.17 by heating to 600 o C. From a deposition layer formed by helium plasma, not only helium but also hydrogen was released by heating to 500 o C. Atomic ratios of helium and hydrogen to tungsten were estimated to be 0.080 and 0.075, respectively. The trapped hydrogen is probably impurity hydrogen

  20. Reactive sputter deposition

    CERN Document Server

    Mahieu, Stijn

    2008-01-01

    In this valuable work, all aspects of the reactive magnetron sputtering process, from the discharge up to the resulting thin film growth, are described in detail, allowing the reader to understand the complete process. Hence, this book gives necessary information for those who want to start with reactive magnetron sputtering, understand and investigate the technique, control their sputtering process and tune their existing process, obtaining the desired thin films.

  1. Reactive sputter deposition of boron nitride

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jankowski, A.F.; Hayes, J.P.; McKernan, M.A.; Makowiecki, D.M.

    1995-10-01

    The preparation of fully dense, boron targets for use in planar magnetron sources has lead to the synthesis of Boron Nitride (BN) films by reactive rf sputtering. The deposition parameters of gas pressure, flow and composition are varied along with substrate temperature and applied bias. The films are characterized for composition using Auger electron spectroscopy, for chemical bonding using Raman spectroscopy and for crystalline structure using transmission electron microscopy. The deposition conditions are established which lead to the growth of crystalline BN phases. In particular, the growth of an adherent cubic BN coating requires 400--500 C substrate heating and an applied -300 V dc bias

  2. Effect of substrate temperature and deposition rate on the morphology and optical properties of Ti films

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Einollahzadeh-Samadi, M.; Dariani, R.S., E-mail: dariani@alzahra.ac.ir

    2013-09-01

    Titanium films are deposited on transparent fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) glass substrates by DC magnetron sputtering process. Influences imposed by sputtering rate and substrate temperature on surface morphology and optical properties of the deposited Ti films are investigated. We observed that all the sputtered films exhibit uniform and compact surface morphology without peeling and cracking. Morphology of the films is studied using atomic force microscopy (AFM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The optical properties of the films are investigated using UV–vis spectroscopy. The morphological studies indicate that by increasing the substrate temperature from room temperature to 250 °C and/or decreasing sputtering rate from 660 Å/min to 540 Å/min the surface roughness decreased from 73.4 to 31.0 nm and the grain size increases from 50.76 nm to 163.93 nm. An important effect of the root mean square (RMS) surface roughness and grain size is modification of the films optical properties. In fact, an enhancement of refractive index n for the Ti films deposited at high substrate temperature and/or high deposition rate is observed, that is attributed to reduction of RMS roughness. This effect is attributed to increment of fractional volume which leads to an increase in density of deposited film. Thus, by controlling the sputtering conditions one can reach to the desired morphological and optical properties.

  3. Microstructural evaluation of NiTi-based films deposited by magnetron sputtering

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Crăciunescu, Corneliu M., E-mail: corneliu.craciunescu@upt.ro; Mitelea, Ion, E-mail: corneliu.craciunescu@upt.ro; Budău, Victor, E-mail: corneliu.craciunescu@upt.ro [Department of Materials and Manufacturing Engineering, Politehnica University of Timisoara (Romania); Ercuţa, Aurel [Department of Materials and Manufacturing Engineering, Politehnica University of Timisoara and Department of Physics, West University Timisoara (Romania)

    2014-11-24

    Shape memory alloy films belonging to the NiTi-based systems were deposited on heated and unheated substrates, by magnetron sputtering in a custom made system, and their structure and composition was analyzed using electron microscopy. Several substrates were used for the depositions: glass, Cu-Zn-Al, Cu-Al-Ni and Ti-NiCu shape memory alloy ribbons and kapton. The composition of the Ti-Ni-Cu films showed limited differences, compared to the one of the target and the microstructure for the DC magnetron sputtering revealed crystallized structure with features determined on peel off samples from a Si wafer. Both inter and transcrystalline fractures were observed and related to the interfacial stress developed on cooling from deposition temperature.

  4. Sputter deposited titanium disilicide at high substrate temperatures

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tanielian, M.; Blackstone, S.; Lajos, R.

    1984-08-01

    Titanium disilicide films were sputter deposited from a composite TiSi2.1 target on bare silicon wafers both at room temperature and at 600 °C. The room temperature as-deposited films require a 900 °C sintering step to reduce their resistivity. On the other hand, the as-deposited 600 °C films are fully reacted, polycrystalline, have no oxygen contamination, large grain sizes, and are oxidation resistant. Further annealing of these films at 900 °C produces no changes in their crystal structure, composition, resistivity, or grain size.

  5. Shape memory characteristics of sputter-deposited Ti-Ni thin films

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Miyazaki, Shuichi; Ishida, Akira.

    1994-01-01

    Ti-Ni shape memory alloy thin films were deposited using an RF magnetron sputtering apparatus. The as-sputtered films were heat-treated in order to crystallize and memorize. After the heat treatment, the shape memory characteristics have been investigated using DSC and thermomechanical tests. Upon cooling the thin films, the solution-treated films showed a single peak in the DSC curve indicating a single stage transformation occurring from B2 to the martensitic phase, while the age-treated films showed double peaks indicating a two-stage transformation, i.e., from B2 to the R-phase, then to the martensitic phase. A perfect shape memory effect was achieved in these sputter-deposited Ti-Ni thin films in association both with the R-phase and martensitic transformations. Transformation temperatures increased linearly with increasing applied stress. The transformation strain also increased with increasing stress. The shape memory characteristics were strongly affected by heat-treatment conditions. (author)

  6. Epitaxial crystal growth by sputter deposition: Applications to semiconductors. Part 2

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Greene, J.E.

    1984-01-01

    The understanding of the physics of ion-surface interactions has progressed sufficiently to allow sputter depositinn to be used as a crystal growth technique for depositing a wide variety of single crystal elemental, compound, alloy, and superlattice semiconductors. In many cases, films with essentially bulk values of carrier concentrations and mobilities have been obtained. The controlled use of low energy particle bombardment of the growing film during sputter deposition has been shown to affect all stages of crystal growth ranging from adatom mobilities and nucleation kinetics to elemental incorporation probabilities. Such effects provide inherent advantages for sputter deposition over other vapor phase techniques for the low temperature growth of compound and alloy semiconductors and are essential in allowing the growth of new and unique single crystal metastable semiconductors. Part 1 of this review includes sections on experimental techniques, the physics of ion-surface interactions, and ion bombardment effects on film nucleation and growth, while Part 2 presents a discussion of recent results in the growth of elemental, III-V, II-VI, IV-VI, metastable, and other compound semiconductors

  7. An economic analysis of the deposition of electrochromic WO3 via sputtering or plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Garg, D.; Henderson, P.B.; Hollingsworth, R.E.; Jensen, D.G.

    2005-01-01

    The costs of manufacturing electrochromic WO 3 thin films deposited by either radio frequency plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) or DC reactive magnetron sputtering of metal targets were modeled. Both inline systems for large area glass substrates and roll-to-roll systems for flexible webs were compared. Costs of capital, depreciation, raw materials, labor, power, and other miscellaneous items were accounted for in the model. The results predict that on similar sized systems, PECVD can produce electrochromic WO 3 for as little as one-third the cost, and have more than 10 times the annual production capacity of sputtering. While PECVD cost is dominated by raw materials, primarily WF 6 , sputtering cost is dominated by labor and depreciation

  8. Ion beam and dual ion beam sputter deposition of tantalum oxide films

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cevro, Mirza; Carter, George

    1994-11-01

    Ion beam sputter deposition (IBS) and dual ion beam sputter deposition (DIBS) of tantalum oxide films was investigated at room temperature and compared with similar films prepared by e-gun deposition. Optical properties ie refractive index and extinction coefficient of IBS films were determined in the 250 - 1100 nm range by transmission spectrophotometry and at (lambda) equals 632.8 nm by ellipsometry. They were found to be mainly sensitive to the partial pressure of oxygen used as a reactive gas in the deposition process. The maximum value of the refractive index of IBS deposited tantalum oxide films was n equals 2.15 at (lambda) equals 550 nm and the extinction coefficient of order k equals 2 X 10-4. Films deposited by e-gun deposition had refractive index n equals 2.06 at (lambda) equals 550 nm. Films deposited using DIBS ie deposition assisted by low energy Ar and O2 ions (Ea equals 0 - 300 eV) and low current density (Ji equals 0 - 40 (mu) A/cm2) showed no improvement in the optical properties of the films. Preferential sputtering occurred at Ea(Ar) equals 300 eV and Ji equals 20 (mu) A/cm2 and slightly oxygen deficient films were formed. Different bonding states in the tantalum-oxide films were determined by x-ray spectroscopy while composition of the film and contaminants were determined by Rutherford scattering spectroscopy. Tantalum oxide films formed by IBS contained relatively high Ar content (approximately equals 2.5%) originating from the reflected argon neutrals from the sputtering target while assisted deposition slightly increased the Ar content. Stress in the IBS deposited films was measured by the bending technique. IBS deposited films showed compressive stress with a typical value of s equals 3.2 X 109 dyn/cm2. Films deposited by concurrent ion bombardment showed an increase in the stress as a function of applied current density. The maximum was s approximately equals 5.6 X 109 dyn/cm2 for Ea equals 300 eV and Ji equals 35 (mu) A/cm2. All

  9. Ion-beam and dual-ion-beam sputter deposition of tantalum oxide films

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cevro, Mirza; Carter, George

    1995-02-01

    Ion-beam sputter deposition (IBS) and dual-ion-beam sputter deposition (DIBS) of tantalum oxide films was investigated at room temperature and compared with similar films prepared by e-gun deposition. The optical properties, i.e., refractive index and extinction coefficient, of IBS films were determined in the 250- to 1100-nm range by transmission spectrophotometry and at (lambda) equals 632.8 nm by ellipsometry. They were found to be mainly sensitive to the partial pressure of oxygen used as a reactive gas in the deposition process. The maximum value of the refractive index of IBS deposited tantalum oxide films was n equals 2.15 at (lambda) equals 550 nm and the extinction coefficient of order k equals 2 X 10-4. Films deposited by e-gun deposition had refractive index n 2.06 at (lambda) equals 550 nm. Films deposited using DIBS, i.e., deposition assisted by low energy Ar and O2 ions (Ea equals 0 to 300 eV) and low current density (Ji equals 0 to 40 (mu) A/cm2), showed no improvement in the optical properties of the films. Preferential sputtering occurred at Ea(Ar) equals 300 eV and Ji equals 20 (mu) A/cm2 and slightly oxygen deficient films were formed. Different bonding states in the tantalum-oxide films were determined by x-ray spectroscopy, whereas composition of the film and contaminants were determined by Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy (RBS). Tantalum oxide films formed by IBS contained relatively high Ar content (approximately equals 2.5%) originating from the reflected argon neutrals from the sputtering target whereas assisted deposition slightly increased the Ar content. Stress in the IBS-deposited films was measured by the bending technique. IBS-deposited films showed compressive stress with a typical value of s equals 3.2 X 109 dyn/cm2. Films deposited by concurrent ion bombardment showed an increase in the stress as a function of applied current density. The maximum was s approximately equals 5.6 X 109 dyn/cm2 for Ea equals 300 eV and Ji equals

  10. Composition and crystal structure of N doped TiO2 film deposited at different O2 flow rate by direct current sputtering.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ding, Wanyu; Ju, Dongying; Chai, Weiping

    2011-06-01

    N doped Ti02 films were deposited by direct current pulse magnetron sputtering system at room temperature. The influence of 02 flow rate on the crystal structure of deposited films was studied by Stylus profilometer, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and X-ray diffractometer. The results indicate that the 02 flow rate strongly controls the growth behavior and crystal structure of N doped Ti02 film. It is found that N element mainly exists as substitutional doped state and the chemical stiochiometry is near to TiO1.68±0.06N0.11±0.01 for all film samples. N doped Ti02 film deposited with 2 sccm (standard-state cubic centimeter per minute) 02 flow rate is amorphous structure with high growth rate, which contains both anatase phase and rutile phase crystal nucleuses. In this case, the film displays the mix-phase of anatase and rutile after annealing treatment. While N doped Ti02 film deposited with 12 cm(3)/min 02 flow rate displays anatase phase before and after annealing treatment. And it should be noticed that no TiN phase appears for all samples before and after annealing treatment. Copyright © 2011 The Research Centre for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  11. Properties of indium tin oxide films deposited using High Target Utilisation Sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Calnan, S.; Upadhyaya, H.M.; Thwaites, M.J.; Tiwari, A.N.

    2007-01-01

    Indium tin oxide (ITO) films were deposited on soda lime glass and polyimide substrates using an innovative process known as High Target Utilisation Sputtering (HiTUS). The influence of the oxygen flow rate, substrate temperature and sputtering pressure, on the electrical, optical and thermal stability properties of the films was investigated. High substrate temperature, medium oxygen flow rate and moderate pressure gave the best compromise of low resistivity and high transmittance. The lowest resistivity was 1.6 x 10 -4 Ω cm on glass while that on the polyimide was 1.9 x 10 -4 Ω cm. Substrate temperatures above 100 deg. C were required to obtain visible light transmittance exceeding 85% for ITO films on glass. The thermal stability of the films was mainly influenced by the oxygen flow rate and thus the initial degree of oxidation. The film resistivity was either unaffected or reduced after heating in vacuum but generally increased for oxygen deficient films when heated in air. The greatest increase in transmittance of oxygen deficient films occurred for heat treatment in air while that of the highly oxidised films was largely unaffected by heating in both media. This study has demonstrated the potential of HiTUS as a favourable deposition method for high quality ITO suitable for use in thin film solar cells

  12. Surface treatment effect on Si (111) substrate for carbon deposition using DC unbalanced magnetron sputtering

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Aji, A. S., E-mail: aji.ravazes70@gmail.com; Sahdan, M. F.; Hendra, I. B.; Dinari, P.; Darma, Y. [Quantum Semiconductor and Devices Lab., Physics of Material Electronics Research Division, Department of Physics, Institut Teknologi Bandung (Indonesia)

    2015-04-16

    In this work, we studied the effect of HF treatment in silicon (111) substrate surface for depositing thin layer carbon. We performed the deposition of carbon by using DC Unbalanced Magnetron Sputtering with carbon pallet (5% Fe) as target. From SEM characterization results it can be concluded that the carbon layer on HF treated substrate is more uniform than on substrate without treated. Carbon deposition rate is higher as confirmed by AFM results if the silicon substrate is treated by HF solution. EDAX characterization results tell that silicon (111) substrate with HF treatment have more carbon fraction than substrate without treatment. These results confirmed that HF treatment on silicon Si (111) substrates could enhance the carbon deposition by using DC sputtering. Afterward, the carbon atomic arrangement on silicon (111) surface is studied by performing thermal annealing process to 900 °C. From Raman spectroscopy results, thin film carbon is not changing until 600 °C thermal budged. But, when temperature increase to 900 °C, thin film carbon is starting to diffuse to silicon (111) substrates.

  13. Methods of optimization of reactive sputtering conditions of Al target during AlN films deposition

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chodun Rafal

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available Encouraged by recent studies and considering the well-documented problems occurring during AlN synthesis, we have chosen two diagnostic methods which would enable us to fully control the process of synthesis and characterize the synthesized aluminum nitride films. In our experiment we have compared the results coming from OES measurements of plasma and circulating power characteristics of the power supply with basic features of the deposited layers. The dual magnetron system operating in AC mode was used in our studies. Processes of aluminum target sputtering were carried out in an atmosphere of a mixture of argon and nitrogen. The plasma emission spectra were measured with the use of a monochromator device. Analyses were made by comparing the positions and intensities of spectral lines of the plasma components. The results obtained allowed us to characterize the sputtering process under various conditions of gas mixture compositions as well as power distribution more precisely, which is reported in this work. The measured spectra were related to the deposition rate, the structure morphology of the films and chemical composition. Our work proved that the use of plasma OES and circulating power measurements make possible to control the process of sputtering and synthesis of deposited films in situ.

  14. Zn Thin Film Deposition for Fe Layer Shielding Use the Sputtering Technique on Cylindrical Form

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yunanto; Tjipto Sujitno, BA; Suprapto; Simbolon, Sahat

    2002-01-01

    Deposition of thin film on Fe substrate use sputtering technique on cylindrical form was carried out. The purpose of this research is to protect Fe due to the corrosion with Zn thin film. Sputtering method was proposed to protect a component of complex form. Substrate has functioned as anode, meanwhile target in cylindrical form as a cathode. Argon ion from anode bombard Zn with enough energy for releasing Zn. Zn atom would scatter and some of then was focused on the anode. For testing Zn atom on Fe by using XRF and corrosion rate with potentiostat. It was found that corrosion rate was decreased from 0.051 mpy to 0.031 mpy on 0.63 % of Fe substrate. (author)

  15. Deposition and characterization of sputtered hexaboride coatings

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Waldhauser, W.

    1996-06-01

    Hexaborides of the rare-earth elements ReB 6 are potential materials for cathode applications since they combine properties such as low work function, good electrical conductivity, high melting point as well as low volatility at high temperatures. Due to their high hardness and colorations ranging from blue to purple these compounds are also considered for applications to coatings for decoration of consumer products. At present, either rods of sintered LaB 6 or single LaB 6 crystals are indirectly heated to induce emission. In this workboride coatings were deposited onto various substrates employing non-reactive magnetron sputtering from LaB 6 , CeB 6 , SmB 6 and YB 6 targets. Coatings deposited were examined using scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, electron probe microanalysis. Vickers microhardness, colorimeter and spectroscopic ellipsometry measurements. Electron emission characteristics of the coatings were studied by the thermionic emission and the contact potential method. After optimization of the sputtering parameters fine-columnar or partially amorphous films with atomic ratios of boron to metal in the order of 5 to 7.5 were obtained. The tendency to form the corresponding hexaboride phase decreases from LaB 6 , CeB 6 and SmB 6 to YB 6 . The work function was measured to be in the range of 2.6 to 3.3 eV. Vickers microhardness values lie between 1500 and 2000 HVO.01. LaB 6 coatings showed the most pronounced visual color impression corresponding to dark violet. The results obtained indicate that sputtered hexaboride films are well suited for decorative and thermionic applications. (author)

  16. Electrical, optical and etching properties of Zn-Sn-O thin films deposited by combinatorial sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kim, J. S.; Park, J. K.; Baik, Y. J.; Kim, W. M.; Jeong, J.; Seong, T. Y.

    2012-01-01

    Zn-Sn-O (ZTO) films are known to be able to form an amorphous phase, which provides a smooth surface morphology as well as etched side wall, when deposited by using the conventional sputtering technique and, therefore, to have a potential to be applied as transparent thin film transistors. In this study, ZTO thin films were prepared by using combined sputtering of ZnO and SnO 2 targets, and the dependences of their electrical and optical properties on the composition and the deposition parameters were examined. The Sn content in the films was varied in the range of 35 ∼ 85 at .%. The deposition was carried out at room temperature, 150 and 300 .deg. C, and the oxygen content in sputtering gas was varied from 0 to 1 vol.%. Sn-rich films had better electrical properties, but showed large oxygen deficiency when deposited at low oxygen partial pressures. ZTO films with Sn contents lower than 55 at.% had good optical transmission, but the electrical properties were poor due to very low carrier concentrations. A high Hall mobility of larger than 10 cm 2 /Vs could be obtained in the carrier density range 10 17 ∼ 10 20 cm -3 , and the etching rate was measurable for films with Sn content up to 70 at.% when using a dilute HCl solution, indicating a good possibility of utilizing ZTO films for device applications.

  17. Hydrogen gas driven permeation through tungsten deposition layer formed by hydrogen plasma sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Uehara, Keiichiro; Katayama, Kazunari; Date, Hiroyuki; Fukada, Satoshi

    2015-01-01

    Highlights: • H permeation tests for W layer formed by H plasma sputtering are performed. • H permeation flux through W layer is larger than that through W bulk. • H diffusivity in W layer is smaller than that in W bulk. • The equilibrium H concentration in W layer is larger than that in W bulk. - Abstract: It is important to evaluate the influence of deposition layers formed on plasma facing wall on tritium permeation and tritium retention in the vessel of a fusion reactor from a viewpoint of safety. In this work, tungsten deposition layers having different thickness and porosity were formed on circular nickel plates by hydrogen RF plasma sputtering. Hydrogen permeation experiment was carried out at the temperature range from 250 °C to 500 °C and at hydrogen pressure range from 1013 Pa to 101,300 Pa. The hydrogen permeation flux through the nickel plate with tungsten deposition layer was significantly smaller than that through a bare nickel plate. This indicates that a rate-controlling step in hydrogen permeation was not permeation through the nickel plate but permeation though the deposition layer. The pressure dependence on the permeation flux differed by temperature. Hydrogen permeation flux through tungsten deposition layer is larger than that through tungsten bulk. From analysis of the permeation curves, it was indicated that hydrogen diffusivity in tungsten deposition layer is smaller than that in tungsten bulk and the equilibrium hydrogen concentration in tungsten deposition layer is enormously larger than that in tungsten bulk at same hydrogen pressure.

  18. Reactive dual magnetron sputtering for large area application

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Struempfel, J.

    2002-01-01

    Production lines for large area coating demand high productivity of reactive magnetron sputtering processes. Increased dynamic deposition rates for oxides and nitrides were already obtained by using of highly powered magnetrons in combination with advanced sputter techniques. However, besides high deposition rates the uniformity of such coatings has to be carefully considered. First the basics of reactive sputtering processes and dual magnetron sputtering are summarized. Different methods for process stabilization and control are commonly used for reactive sputtering. The Plasma Emission Monitor (PE M) offers the prerequisite for fast acting process control derived from the in-situ intensity measurements of a spectral line of the sputtered target material. Combined by multiple Plasma Emission Monitor control loops segmented gas manifolds are able to provide excellent thin film uniformity at high deposition rates. The Dual Magnetron allows a broad range of processing by different power supply modes. Medium frequency, DC and pulsed DC power supplies can be used for high quality layers. Whereas the large area coating of highly isolating layers like TiO 2 or SiO 2 is dominated by MF sputtering best results for coating with transparent conductive oxides are obtained by dual DC powering of the dual magnetron arrangement. (Author)

  19. Structural and optical properties of zirconia thin films deposited by reactive high-power impulse magnetron sputtering

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Zhao, Xiaoli; Jin, Jie [Tianjin University, School of Electronic Information Engineering, Tianjin (China); Cheng, Jui-Ching, E-mail: juiching@ntut.edu.tw [Chang-Gung University, Department of Electronics, Taoyuan, Taiwan (China); Lee, Jyh-Wei [Ming Chi University of Technology, College of Materials Engineering, New Taipei City, Taiwan (China); Wu, Kuo-Hong [Chang-Gung University, Department of Electronics, Taoyuan, Taiwan (China); Lin, Kuo-Cheng; Tsai, Jung-Ruey [Asia University, Department of Photonics and Communication Engineering, Taichung, Taiwan (China); Liu, Kou-Chen, E-mail: jacobliu@mail.cgu.edu.tw [Chang-Gung University, Department of Electronics, Taoyuan, Taiwan (China)

    2014-11-03

    Zirconia films are deposited by reactive high power impulse magnetron sputtering (HiPIMS) technology on glass and indium-tin-oxide (ITO)/glass substrates. Preparation, microstructure and optical characteristics of the films have been studied. During deposition, the influence of the target power and duty cycle on the peak current–voltage and power density has been observed in oxide mode. Transparent thin films under different oxygen proportions are obtained on the two substrates. Atomic force microscopy measurements showed that the surface roughness of the films was lower by reactive HiPIMS than DC sputtering for all oxygen contents. The transmission and reflectance properties of differently grown zirconia films were also investigated using an ultraviolet–visible spectrophotometer. The optical transmittance of films grown on glass substrates by HiPIMS reached maximum values above 90%, which exceeded that by DC sputtering. The band edge near 5.86 eV shifted to a lower wavelength for zirconia films prepared with oxygen flow rates lower than 4.5 sccm. For the films prepared on ITO/glass substrates, the transmittance and the band gap of zirconia films were limited by ITO films; a maximum average transmittance of 84% was obtained at 4.5 sccm O{sub 2} and the energy band gap was in the range of 3.7–3.8 eV for oxygen flow rates ranging from 3.5 to 5.0 sccm. Finally, the electrical properties of zirconia films have also been discussed. - Highlights: • Zirconia films are deposited by reactive high power impulse magnetron sputtering. • Low roughness films are obtained. • Films show a high transmittance (> 90%). • Films prepared on glass have a band gap of 5.9 eV.

  20. Microstructure evolution in nanoporous gold thin films made from sputter-deposited precursors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gwak, Eun-Ji; Kang, Na-Ri; Baek, Un Bong; Lee, Hae Moo; Nahm, Seung Hoon; Kim, Ju-Young

    2013-01-01

    We fabricate almost crack-free 1.5 μm thick nanoporous gold thin films using free-corrosion dealloying and transfer processes from sputter-deposited precursors. By controlling the temperature and the concentration of the nitric acid solution during free-corrosion dealloying, we obtain ligament sizes in nanoporous gold between 22 and 155 nm. We investigate the effects of dissolution rate of Ag atoms, surface diffusivity of Au atoms and formation of Ag oxide on nanoporosity evolution

  1. Composition, structure and magnetic properties of sputter deposited Ni-Mn-Ga ferromagnetic shape memory thin films

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Annadurai, A.; Nandakumar, A.K.; Jayakumar, S.; Kannan, M.D. [Thin Film Center, Department of Physics, PSG College of Technology, Coimbatore 641004 (India); Manivel Raja, M.; Bysak, S. [Defence Metallurgical Research Laboratory, Kanchanbagh, Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh 500 058 (India); Gopalan, R. [Defence Metallurgical Research Laboratory, Kanchanbagh, Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh 500 058 (India)], E-mail: rg_gopy@yahoo.com; Chandrasekaran, V. [Defence Metallurgical Research Laboratory, Kanchanbagh, Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh 500 058 (India)

    2009-03-15

    Polycrystalline Ni-Mn-Ga thin films were deposited by the d.c. magnetron sputtering on well-cleaned substrates of Si(1 0 0) and glass at a constant sputtering power of 36 W. We report the influence of sputtering pressure on the composition, structure and magnetic properties of the sputtered thin films. These films display ferromagnetic behaviour only after annealing at an elevated temperature and a maximum saturation magnetization of 335 emu/cc was obtained for the films investigated. Evolution of martensitic microstructure was observed in the annealed thin films with the increase of sputtering pressure. The thermo-magnetic curves exhibited only magnetic transition in the temperature range of 339-374 K. The thin film deposited at high sputtering pressure of 0.025 mbar was found to be ordered L2{sub 1} austenitic phase.

  2. Investigation of the optical property and structure of WO3 thin films with different sputtering depositions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Hsi-Chao; Jan, Der-Jun; Chen, Chien-Han; Huang, Kuo-Ting; Lo, Yen-Ming; Chen, Sheng-Hui

    2011-09-01

    The purpose of this research was to compare the optical properties and structure of tungsten oxide (WO3) thin films that was deposited by different sputtering depositions. WO3 thin films deposited by two different depositions of direct current (DC) magnetron sputtering and pulsed DC sputtering. A 99.95% WO3 target was used as the starting material for these depositions. These WO3 thin films were deposited on the ITO glass, PET and silicon substrate by different ratios of oxygen and argon. A shadow moiré interferometer would be introduced to measure the residual stress for PET substrate. RF magnetron sputtering had the large residual stress than the other's depositions. A Raman spectrum could exhibit the phase of oxidation of WO3 thin film by different depositions. At the ratio of oxygen and argon was about 1:1, and the WO3 thin films had the best oxidation. However, it was important at the change of the transmittance (ΔT = Tbleached - Tcolored) between the coloring and bleaching for the smart window. Therefore, we also found the WO3 thin films had the large variation of transmittance between the coloring and bleaching at the gas ratios of oxygen and argon of 1:1.

  3. Study on the electrical properties of ITO films deposited by facing target sputter deposition

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kim, Youn J; Jin, Su B; Kim, Sung I; Choi, Yoon S; Choi, In S; Han, Jeon G

    2009-01-01

    This study examined the mechanism for the change in the electrical properties (carrier concentration (n) and mobility (μ)) of tin-doped indium oxide (ITO) films deposited by magnetron sputtering in a confined facing magnetic field. The relationship between the carrier concentration and the mobility was significantly different from the results reported for ITO films deposited by other magnetron sputtering processes. The lowest resistivity obtained for ITO films deposited in a confined facing magnetic field at low substrate temperatures (approximately 120 0 C) was 4.26 x 10 -4 Ω cm at a power density of 3 W cm -2 . Crystalline ITO films were obtained at a low power density range from 3 to 5 W cm -2 due to the increase in the substrate temperature from 120 to 162 0 C. This contributed to the increased carrier concentration and decreased electrical resistivity. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy revealed an increase in the concentration of the Sn 4+ states. This was attributed to the formation of a crystalline ITO film, which effectively enhanced the carrier concentration and reduced the carrier mobility.

  4. Deposition of nanostructured fluorocarbon plasma polymer films by RF magnetron sputtering of polytetrafluoroethylene

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kylian, Ondrej, E-mail: ondrej.kylian@gmail.com; Drabik, Martin; Polonskyi, Oleksandr; Cechvala, Juraj; Artemenko, Anna; Gordeev, Ivan; Choukourov, Andrei; Matolinova, Iva; Slavinska, Danka; Biederman, Hynek, E-mail: bieder@kmf.troja.mff.cuni.cz

    2011-07-29

    The RF magnetron sputtering of polytetrafluoroethylene target is studied with the aim to find out conditions leading to the deposition of super-hydrophobic thin films. It is shown that such coatings can be prepared at elevated pressures and a longer distance between the sputtered target and the substrate. This is explained by an increase in the density of longer C{sub x}F{sub y} molecules that reach the substrate and a lower flux of ions and CF{sub 2} radicals on the surface of growing film under such deposition conditions, as observed by optical emission spectroscopy and mass spectrometry. Such changes in plasma composition result in a deposition of rough films having F/C ratio close to 2 as observed by scanning electron microscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, respectively. These findings clearly distinguish our results from the previous investigations of polytetrafluoroethylene sputtering performed at shorter distances from the target, where either low F/C ratio or low roughness of the deposited films did not allow reaching super-hydrophobic character of the coatings.

  5. Net sputtering rate due to hot ions in a Ne-Xe discharge gas bombarding an MgO layer

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ho, S.; Tamakoshi, T.; Ikeda, M.; Mikami, Y.; Suzuki, K.

    2011-01-01

    An analytical method is developed for determining net sputtering rate for an MgO layer under hot ions with low energy ( h i , above a threshold energy of sputtering, E th,i , multiplied by a yield coefficient. The threshold energy of sputtering is determined from dissociation energy required to remove an atom from MgO surface multiplied by an energy-transfer coefficient. The re-deposition rate of the sputtered atoms is calculated by a diffusion simulation using a hybridized probabilistic and analytical method. These calculation methods are combined to analyze the net sputtering rate. Maximum net sputtering rate due to the hot neon ions increases above the partial pressure of 4% xenon as E h Ne becomes higher and decreases near the partial pressure of 20% xenon as ion flux of neon decreases. The dependence due to the hot neon ions on partial pressure and applied voltage agrees well with experimental results, but the dependence due to the hot xenon ions deviates considerably. This result shows that the net sputtering rate is dominated by the hot neon ions. Maximum E h Ne (E h Ne,max = 5.3 - 10.3 eV) is lower than E th,Ne (19.5 eV) for the MgO layer; therefore, weak sputtering due to the hot neon ions takes place. One hot neon ion sputters each magnesium and each oxygen atom on the surface and distorts around a vacancy. The ratio of the maximum net sputtering rate is approximately determined by number of the ions at E h i,max multiplied by an exponential factor of -E th,i /E h i,max .

  6. A review of basic phenomena and techniques for sputter-deposition of high temperature superconducting films

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Auciello, O. (Microelectronics Center of North Carolina, Research Triangle Park, NC (USA) North Carolina State Univ., Raleigh, NC (USA). Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering); Ameen, M.S.; Kingon, A.I.; Lichtenwalner, D.J. (North Carolina State Univ., Raleigh, NC (USA). Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering); Krauss, A.R. (Argonne National Lab., IL (USA))

    1990-01-01

    The processes involved in plasma and ion beam sputter-deposition of high temperature superconducting thin films are critically reviewed. Recent advances in the development of these techniques are discussed in relation to basic physical phenomena, specific to each technique, which must be understood before high quality films can be produced. Control of film composition is a major issue in sputter-deposition of multicomponent materials. Low temperature processing of films is a common goal for each technique, particularly in relation to integrating high temperature superconducting films with the current microelectronics technology. It has been understood for some time that for Y{sub 1}Ba{sub 2}Cu{sub 3}O{sub 7} deposition, the most intensely studied high-{Tc} compound, incorporation of sufficient oxygen into the film during deposition is necessary to produce as-deposited superconducting films at relatively substrate temperatures. Recent results have shown that with the use of suitable buffer layers, high quality Y{sub 1}Ba{sub 2}Cu{sub 3}O{sub 7} sputtered films can be obtained on Si substrates without the need for post-deposition anneal processing. This review is mainly focussed on issues related to sputter-deposition of Y{sub 1}Ba{sub 2}Cu{sub 3}O{sub 7} thin films, although representative results concerning the bismuth and thallium based compounds are included. 143 refs., 11 figs.

  7. Effect of deposition conditions on mechanical stresses and microstructure of sputter-deposited molybdenum and reactively sputter-deposited molybdenum nitride films

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shen, Y.G.

    2003-01-01

    A combined investigation of mechanical stress generation by in situ substrate curvature measurements during the growth of MoN x thin films, with 0≤x≤0.35, and of structural properties by ex situ X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), transmission electron diffraction (TED), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and electron energy-loss spectroscopy (EELS) is reported. It was found that the Mo film stresses strongly depended on the Ar sputtering pressure and changed from highly compressive to highly tensile in a relatively narrow pressure range of 6-12 mTorr. For pressures exceeding ∼40 mTorr, the stress in the film was nearly zero. Cross-sectional TEM measurements indicated that the compressively stressed films contained a dense microstructure without any columns, while the films having tensile stress had a very columnar microstructure. High sputtering-gas pressure conditions yielded dendritic-like film growth, resulting in complete relaxation of the mechanical tensile stresses. It was also found that the properties of the deposited MoN x films depended not only on the nitrogen partial pressure in Ar-N 2 gas mixtures but also on the total sputtering-gas pressure. Cross-sectional TEM studies showed that an average column width for 160 nm-thick films near stoichiometry of Mo 2 N was about ∼15-20 nm. Using the electron scattering data collected from a range of crystalline samples for calculating the pair distribution function (PDF) by Fourier transformation in real space, Mo-N and Mo-Mo bonding in the films was also identified. Once the Mo 2 N phase was formed, the density, microstructure and bonding feature were similar and insensitive to the total sputtering pressure used in this study

  8. An economic analysis of the deposition of electrochromic WO{sub 3} via sputtering or plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Garg, D. [Air Products and Chemicals Inc., 7201 Hamilton Blvd., Allentown, PA 18195-7201 (United States); Henderson, P.B. [Air Products and Chemicals Inc., 7201 Hamilton Blvd., Allentown, PA 18195-7201 (United States)]. E-mail: henderpb@airproducts.co; Hollingsworth, R.E. [ITN Energy Systems Inc., 8130 Shaffer Pkwy, Littleton, CO 80127 (United States); Jensen, D.G. [ITN Energy Systems Inc., 8130 Shaffer Pkwy, Littleton, CO 80127 (United States)

    2005-06-15

    The costs of manufacturing electrochromic WO{sub 3} thin films deposited by either radio frequency plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) or DC reactive magnetron sputtering of metal targets were modeled. Both inline systems for large area glass substrates and roll-to-roll systems for flexible webs were compared. Costs of capital, depreciation, raw materials, labor, power, and other miscellaneous items were accounted for in the model. The results predict that on similar sized systems, PECVD can produce electrochromic WO{sub 3} for as little as one-third the cost, and have more than 10 times the annual production capacity of sputtering. While PECVD cost is dominated by raw materials, primarily WF{sub 6}, sputtering cost is dominated by labor and depreciation.

  9. Small grain size zirconium-based coatings deposited by magnetron sputtering at low temperatures

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Jimenez, O., E-mail: omar.jimenez.udg@gmail.com [Departamento de Ingeniería de Proyectos, CUCEI, Universidad de Guadalajara, AP 307, CP 45101 Zapopan, Jal (Mexico); Department of Materials Science and Engineering, The University of Sheffield, Sheffield S1 3JD (United Kingdom); Audronis, M.; Leyland, A. [Department of Materials Science and Engineering, The University of Sheffield, Sheffield S1 3JD (United Kingdom); Flores, M.; Rodriguez, E. [Departamento de Ingeniería de Proyectos, CUCEI, Universidad de Guadalajara, AP 307, CP 45101 Zapopan, Jal (Mexico); Kanakis, K.; Matthews, A. [Department of Materials Science and Engineering, The University of Sheffield, Sheffield S1 3JD (United Kingdom)

    2015-09-30

    Hard, partly amorphous, ZrTiB(N) coatings were deposited by Physical Vapour Deposition (PVD) onto (111) silicon wafers at low substrate temperatures of 85 and 110 °C using Closed Field Unbalanced Magnetron Sputtering. A segmented rectangular sputter target composed of three pieces (Zr/TiB{sub 2}/Zr) was used as the source of evaporation of coating components. Two different substrate biases (i.e. floating potential and − 50 V) and N{sub 2} reactive-gas flow rates of 2, 4 and 6 sccm were employed as the main deposition parameter variables. The chemical composition, structure, morphology and mechanical properties were investigated using a variety of analytical techniques such as Glow-Discharge Optical Emission Spectroscopy, cross-sectional Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Glancing Angle X-ray Diffraction (GAXRD) and nanoindentation. With other parameters fixed, coating properties were found to be dependent on the substrate negative bias and nitrogen flow rate. Linear scan profiles and SEM imaging revealed that all coatings were smooth, dense and featureless (in fracture cross section) with no apparent columnar morphology or macro-defects. GAXRD structural analysis revealed that mostly metallic phases were formed for coatings containing no nitrogen, whereas a solid solution (Zr,Ti)N single phase nitride was found in most of the reactively deposited coatings — exhibiting a very small grain size due to nitrogen and boron grain refinement effects. Hardness values from as low as 8.6 GPa up to a maximum of 25.9 GPa are related mainly to solid solution strengthening effects. The measured elastic moduli correlated with the trends in hardness behaviour; values in the range of 120–200 GPa were observed depending on the selected deposition parameters. Also, high H/E values (> 0.1) were achieved with several of the coatings.

  10. Low resistivity of Ni–Al co-doped ZnO thin films deposited by DC magnetron sputtering at low sputtering power

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lee, JongWoo [Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Pusan National University, San 30 Jangjeon-dong, Geumjeong-gu, Busan 609-735 (Korea, Republic of); Hui, K.N. [Department of Mechanical Engineering, Hanyang University, 17 Haengdang-dong, Seongdong-gu, Seoul 133-791 (Korea, Republic of); Hui, K.S., E-mail: kshui@hanyang.ac.kr [Department of Mechanical Engineering, Hanyang University, 17 Haengdang-dong, Seongdong-gu, Seoul 133-791 (Korea, Republic of); Cho, Y.R., E-mail: yescho@pusan.ac.kr [Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Pusan National University, San 30 Jangjeon-dong, Geumjeong-gu, Busan 609-735 (Korea, Republic of); Chun, Ho-Hwan [Global Core Research Center for Ships and Offshore Plants (GCRC-SOP), Pusan National University, San 30 Jangjeon-dong, Geumjeong-gu, Busan 609-735 (Korea, Republic of)

    2014-02-28

    Ni–Al co-doped ZnO (NiAl:ZnO) thin films were deposited on glass substrates by DC magnetron sputtering in Ar using a single ceramic, spark-plasma-sintered target with 2 wt% Al and 5 wt% Ni. The effects of the sputtering power and gas pressure on the NiAl:ZnO films were studied. The structural, electrical, and optical properties of the films were characterized by X-ray diffraction, field emission scanning electron microscopy, Hall effect measurements and UV–vis transmission spectroscopy. As the sputtering power and gas pressure increased, the crystallinity, electrical properties and optical band gap of the films were improved. The NiAl:ZnO film deposited at 40 W at 6.0 mTorr had the strongest (0 0 2) XRD peak and the lowest resistivity of approximately 2.19 × 10{sup −3} Ω cm with an optical transmittance of 90%.

  11. Low temperature ITO thin film deposition on PES substrate using pulse magnetron sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lin, Y.C.; Li, J.Y.; Yen, W.T.

    2008-01-01

    Experiments were conducted using pulse magnetron sputtering (PMS) to deposit transparent conducting indium tin oxide (ITO) thin film onto flexible polyethersulfone (PES) plastic substrates. The thin film microstructure, optoelectronic and residual stress were analyzed using the modulating PMS power, work pressure, pulse frequency, duty cycle and cycle time process parameters. The residual stress of the thin film was determined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) combined with the Sony equation. The experimental results show that PMS has a lower process temperature, higher deposition rate and lower resistivity compared with the radio frequency process at the same output power. The duty cycle increase produces the optimum optoelectronic characteristics. When the pressure, power, duty cycle and sputter time are increased, the thin film stress will also increase, causing flexural distortion in the PES plastic substrate. When the deposition thickness reaches 1.5 μm, ITO thin film will appear with a distinct split. Under 5 mtorr work pressure, 60 W power, 33 μs duty time and 2 μs pulse reverse time at duty cycle 95%, thin film with an optimized electrical 3.0 x 10 -4 Ω-cm, RMS surface roughness of 0.85 nm and visible region optical transmittance will be achieved with acquisition of over 85%

  12. ZnO film deposition by DC magnetron sputtering: Effect of target configuration on the film properties

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Arakelova, E.; Khachatryan, A.; Kteyan, A.; Avjyan, K.; Grigoryan, S.

    2016-08-01

    Ballistic transport model for target-to-substrate atom transfer during magnetron sputter deposition was used to develop zinc target (cathode) configuration that enabled growth of uniform zinc oxide films on extensive surfaces and provided reproducibility of films characteristics irrespective of the cathode wear-out. The advantage of the developed target configuration for high-quality ZnO film deposition was observed in the sputtering pressure range of 5− 50 mTorr, and in the range of cathode-to-substrate distances 7–20 cm. Characteristics of the deposited films were demonstrated by using X-ray diffraction analysis, as well as optical and electrical measurements. - Highlights: • Change of target configuration for optimization of magnetron sputtering deposition is proposed. • Improvement of ZnO film properties due to use of this target is demonstrated. • This configuration provided reproducibility of the deposited films properties.

  13. RF Reactive Magnetron Sputter Deposition of Silicon Sub-Oxides

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Hattum, E.D. van

    2007-01-01

    RF reactive magnetron plasma sputter deposition of silicon sub oxide E.D. van Hattum Department of Physics and Astronomy, Faculty of Sciences, Utrecht University The work described in the thesis has been inspired and stimulated by the use of SiOx layers in the direct inductive printing technology,

  14. Sputtering ultra-small Pt on nanographitic flakes deposited by electrophoresis for ethanol electro oxidation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Daryakenari, Ahmad Ahmadi; Daryakenari, Mohammad Ahmadi; Omidvar, Hamid

    2018-01-01

    To acquire highly efficient and cost-effective fuel cells, numerous research works have been carried out to the development low cost and excellent performance of electrocatalysts. In this paper, a solution-based electrophoretic deposition (EPD) technique for fabrication of Pt-based catalyst layers is studied. Nanographitic flake coatings used as catalyst support for sputtered platinium (Pt) were fabricated via the electrophoretic deposition (EPD) of dispersed nanographitic flakes in isopropyl alcohol. Magnesium nitrate hexahydrate (MNH) was used as an additive binder in the EPD process. Subsequently, the platinium particles were deposited by a direct sputtering on the fabricated nanographitic flake coatings.

  15. Molecular dynamics and experimental studies on deposition mechanisms of ion beam sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fang, T.-H.; Chang, W.-J.; Lin, C.-M.; Lien, W.-C.

    2008-01-01

    Molecular dynamics (MD) simulation and experimental methods are used to study the deposition mechanism of ionic beam sputtering (IBS), including the effects of incident energy, incident angle and deposition temperature on the growth process of nickel nanofilms. According to the simulation, the results showed that increasing the temperature of substrate decreases the surface roughness, average grain size and density. Increasing the incident angle increases the surface roughness and the average grain size of thin film, while decreasing its density. In addition, increasing the incident energy decreases the surface roughness and the average grain size of thin film, while increasing its density. For the cases of simulation, with the substrate temperature of 500 K, normal incident angle and 14.6 x 10 -17 J are appropriate, in order to obtain a smoother surface, a small grain size and a higher density of thin film. From the experimental results, the surface roughness of thin film deposited on the substrates of Si(1 0 0) and indium tin oxide (ITO) decreases with the increasing sputtering power, while the thickness of thin film shows an approximately linear increase with the increase of sputtering power

  16. Impurity incorporation, deposition kinetics, and microstructural evolution in sputtered Ta films

    Science.gov (United States)

    Whitacre, Jay Fredric

    There is an increasing need to control the microstructure in thin sputtered Ta films for application as high-temperature coatings or diffusion barriers in microelectronic interconnect structures. To this end, the relationship between impurity incorporation, deposition kinetics, and microstructural evolution was examined for room-temperature low growth rate DC magnetron sputtered Ta films. Impurity levels present during deposition were controlled by pumping the chamber to various base pressures before growth. Ar pressures ranging from 2 to 20 mTorr were used to create contrasting kinetic environments in the sputter gas. This affected both the distribution of adatom kinetic energies at the substrate as well as the rate of impurity desorption from the chamber walls: at higher Ar pressures adatoms has lower kinetic energies, and there was an increase in impurity concentration. X-ray diffraction, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HREM), transmission electron diffraction (TED), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS), and x-ray photoelectron. spectroscopy (XPS) were used to examine film crystallography, microstructure, and composition. A novel laboratory-based in-situ x-ray diffractometer was constructed. This new set-up allowed for the direct observation of microstructural evolution during growth. Films deposited at increasingly higher Ar pressures displayed a systematic decrease in grain size and degree of texturing, while surface morphology was found to vary from a nearly flat surface to a rough surface with several length scales of organization. In-situ x-ray results showed that the rate of texture evolution was found to be much higher in films grown using lower Ar pressures. These effects were studied in films less than 200 A thick using high resolution x-ray diffraction in conjunction with a synchrotron light source (SSRL B.L. 7-2). Films grown using higher Ar pressures (above 10 mTorr) with a pre-growth base

  17. Sputter deposition system for controlled fabrication of multilayers

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Di Nardo, R.P.; Takacs, P.Z.; Majkrzak, C.F.; Stefan, P.M.

    1985-06-01

    A detailed description of a sputter deposition system constructed specifically for the fabrication of x-ray and neutron multilayer monochromators and supermirrors is given. One of the principal design criteria is to maintain precise control of film thickness and uniformity over large substrate areas. Regulation of critical system parameters is fully automated so that response to feedback control information is rapid and complicated layer thickness sequences can be deposited accurately and efficiently. The use of either dc or rf magnetron sources makes it possible to satisfy the diverse material requirements of both x-ray and neutron optics

  18. Niobium sputter deposition on quarter wave resonators

    CERN Document Server

    Viswanadham, C; Jayaprakash, D; Mishra, R L

    2003-01-01

    Niobium sputter deposition on quarter wave copper R.F resonators, have been taken up in our laboratory, An ultra high vacuum system was made for this purpose. Niobium exhibits superconducting properties at liquid Helium temperature. A uniform coating of about 1.5 mu m of niobium on the internal surfaces of the copper resonant cavities is desired. Power dissipation in the resonators can be greatly reduced by making the internal surfaces of the R.F cavity super conducting. (author)

  19. Control and enhancement of the oxygen storage capacity of ceria films by variation of the deposition gas atmosphere during pulsed DC magnetron sputtering

    Science.gov (United States)

    Eltayeb, Asmaa; Vijayaraghavan, Rajani K.; McCoy, Anthony; Venkatanarayanan, Anita; Yaremchenko, Aleksey A.; Surendran, Rajesh; McGlynn, Enda; Daniels, Stephen

    2015-04-01

    In this study, nanostructured ceria (CeO2) films are deposited on Si(100) and ITO coated glass substrates by pulsed DC magnetron sputtering using a CeO2 target. The influence on the films of using various gas ambients, such as a high purity Ar and a gas mixture of high purity Ar and O2, in the sputtering chamber during deposition are studied. The film compositions are studied using XPS and SIMS. These spectra show a phase transition from cubic CeO2 to hexagonal Ce2O3 due to the sputtering process. This is related to the transformation of Ce4+ to Ce3+ and indicates a chemically reduced state of CeO2 due to the formation of oxygen vacancies. TGA and electrochemical cyclic voltammetry (CV) studies show that films deposited in an Ar atmosphere have a higher oxygen storage capacity (OSC) compared to films deposited in the presence of O2. CV results specifically show a linear variation with scan rate of the anodic peak currents for both films and the double layer capacitance values for films deposited in Ar/O2 mixed and Ar atmosphere are (1.6 ± 0.2) × 10-4 F and (4.3 ± 0.5) × 10-4 F, respectively. Also, TGA data shows that Ar sputtered samples have a tendency to greater oxygen losses upon reduction compared to the films sputtered in an Ar/O2 mixed atmosphere.

  20. Effects of negative bias on structure and surface topography of titanium films deposited by DC magnetron sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Duan Linglong

    2008-01-01

    Pure Ti films were fabricated by bias sputtering. The deposition rate, the density and the surface topography of the Ti films at different negative bias were studied. The results show that the deposition rate is weakly affected when the bias power is low. As the bias voltage increases, the deposition rate decreases strongly due to the increase of the layer density and the resputtering phenomena. The film density increased and saturated to nearly bulk value at a bias voltage of -119.1 V. SEM view indicates that the columnar-type structure of Ti films can be destroyed by applying negative bias. The experiments demonstrated that a dense Ti film with more smooth surface can be produced by applying negative bias. (authors)

  1. Improvement of dielectric properties of BLT thin films deposited by magnetron sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Besland, M P; Barroy, P R J; Richard-Plouet, M; Tessier, P Y; Brohan, L; Djouadi, M A; Borderon, C; Tacon, S Le; Averty, D; Gundel, H W

    2008-01-01

    Well crystallized BLT thin films were deposited by RF magnetron sputtering using a target of Aurivillius phase Bi 3.25 La 0.75 Ti 3 O 12 (BLT 0,75 ), elaborated in our institute. RF sputtering experiments were performed at room temperature with an argon/oxygen mixture, in a pressure range of 20-50 mTorr. Optimisation of the plasma parameters, namely deposition pressure, RF power and oxygen content in the gas phase, allows obtaining BLT films with a chemical composition close to Bi 3.25 La 0.75 Ti 3 O 12 . After ex-situ annealing under oxygen atmosphere at 650 deg. C, BLT films deposited on Pt/TiO 2 /SiO 2 /Si (multilayer) substrates exhibit well defined rod-like grains morphology. A two step deposition process appeared to be necessary in order to reach satisfying dielectric properties. The effect of the plasma parameters on the chemical composition and electrical properties are presented and discussed

  2. Characteristics of indium zinc oxide films deposited using the facing targets sputtering method for OLEDs applications

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rim, Y.S.; Kim, H.J.; Kim, K.H.

    2010-01-01

    The amorphous indium zinc oxide (IZO) thin films were deposited on polyethersulfone (PES) and glass substrates using the facing targets sputtering (FTS) system. The electrical, optical and structural properties of the IZO thin films deposited as functions of sputtering parameters on the glass and PES substrates. An optimal IZO deposition condition is fabricated for organic light-emitting device (OLED) based on glass and PES. The amorphous IZO anode-based OLEDs show superior current density and luminance characteristics.

  3. Effect of Target Composition and Sputtering Deposition Parameters on the Functional Properties of Nitrogenized Ag-Permalloy Flexible Thin Films Deposited on Polymer Substrates

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Waheed Khan

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available We report the first results of functional properties of nitrogenized silver-permalloy thin films deposited on polyethylene terephthalic ester {PETE (C10H8O4n} flexible substrates by magnetron sputtering. These new soft magnetic thin films have magnetization that is comparable to pure Ni81Fe19 permalloy films. Two target compositions (Ni76Fe19Ag5 and Ni72Fe18Ag10 were used to study the effect of compositional variation and sputtering parameters, including nitrogen flow rate on the phase evolution and surface properties. Aggregate flow rate and total pressure of Ar+N2 mixture was 60 sccm and 0.55 Pa, respectively. The distance between target and the substrate was kept at 100 mm, while using sputtering power from 100–130 W. Average film deposition rate was confirmed at around 2.05 nm/min for argon atmosphere and was reduced to 1.8 nm/min in reactive nitrogen atmosphere. X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, vibrating sample magnetometer, and contact angle measurements were used to characterize the functional properties. Nano sized character of films was confirmed by XRD and SEM. It is found that the grain size was reduced by the formation of nitride phase, which in turns enhanced the magnetization and lowers the coercivity. Magnetic field coupling efficiency limit was determined from 1.6–2 GHz frequency limit. The results of comparable magnetic performance, lowest magnetic loss, and highest surface free energy, confirming that 15 sccm nitrogen flow rate at 115 W is optimal for producing Ag-doped permalloy flexible thin films having excellent magnetic field coupling efficiency.

  4. In situ crystallization of sputter-deposited TiNi by ion irradiation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ikenaga, Noriaki; Kishi, Yoichi; Yajima, Zenjiro; Sakudo, Noriyuki

    2013-01-01

    Highlights: ► We developed a sputtering deposition process equipped with an ion irradiation system. ► Ion irradiation enables crystallization at lower substrate temperature. ► Ion fluence has an effective range for low-temperature crystallization. ► Crystallized films made on polyimide by the process show the shape memory effect. -- Abstract: TiNi is well known as a typical shape-memory alloy, and the shape-memory property appears only when the structure is crystalline. Until recently, the material has been formed as amorphous film by single-target sputtering deposition at first and then crystallized by being annealed at high temperature over 500 °C. Therefore, it has been difficult to make crystalline TiNi film directly on a substrate of polymer-based material because of the low heat resistance of substrate. In order to realize an actuator from the crystallized TiNi film on polymer substrates, the substrate temperature should be kept below 200 °C throughout the whole process. In our previous studies we have found that deposited film can be crystallized at very low temperature without annealing but with simultaneous irradiation of Ar ions during sputter-deposition. And we have also demonstrated the shape-memory effect with the TiNi film made by the new process. In order to investigate what parameters of the process contribute to the low-temperature crystallization, we have focused to the ion fluence of the ion irradiation. Resultantly, it was found that the transition from amorphous structure to crystal one has a threshold range of ion fluence

  5. Electric and Magnetic Properties of Sputter Deposited BiFeO3 Films

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    N. Siadou

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Polycrystalline BiFeO3 films have been magnetron sputter deposited at room temperature and subsequently heat-treated ex situ at temperatures between 400 and 700°C. The deposition was done in pure Ar atmosphere, as the use of oxygen-argon mixture was found to lead to nonstoichiometric films due to resputtering effects. At a target-to-substrate distance d=2′′ the BiFeO3 structure can be obtained in larger range process gas pressures (2–7 mTorr but the films do not show a specific texture. At d=6′′ codeposition from BiFeO3 and Bi2O3 has been used. Films sputtered at low rate tend to grow with the (001 texture of the pseudo-cubic BiFeO3 structure. As the film structure does not depend on epitaxy similar results are obtained on different substrates. A result of the volatility of Bi, Bi rich oxide phases occur after heat treatment at high temperatures. A Bi2SiO5 impurity phase forms on the substrate side, and does not affect the properties of the main phase. Despite the deposition on amorphous silicon oxide substrate weak ferromagnetism phenomena and displaced loops have been observed at low temperatures showing that their origin is not strain. Ba, La, Ca, and Sr doping suppress the formation of impurity phases and leakage currents.

  6. Films deposited from reactive sputtering of aluminum acetylacetonate under low energy ion bombardment

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Battaglin, Felipe Augusto Darriba; Prado, Eduardo Silva; Cruz, Nilson Cristino da; Rangel, Elidiane Cipriano, E-mail: elidiane@sorocaba.unesp.br [Universidade Estadual Paulista Julio de Mesquita Filho (UNESP), Sorocaba, SP (Brazil). Lab. de Plasmas Tecnologicos; Caseli, Luciano [Universidade Federal de Sao Paulo (UNIFESP), Diadema, SP (Brazil). Instituto de Ciencias Ambientais, Quimicas e Farmaceuticas; Silva, Tiago Fiorini da; Tabacniks, Manfredo Harri [Universidade de Sao Paulo (USP), SP (Brazil). Instituto de Fisica

    2017-07-15

    Films were deposited from aluminum acetylacetonate (Al(acac)3 ) using a methodology involving reactive sputtering and low energy ion bombardment. The plasma was generated by the application of radiofrequency power to the powder containing electrode and simultaneously, negative pulses were supplied to the electrode where the substrates were attached. It was investigated the effect of the duty cycle of the pulses (Δ) on the properties of the coatings. Association of ion bombardment to the deposition process increased film thickness, structure reticulation and organic content. Ions from the deposition environment were implanted at the film-air interface or underneath it. Morphology and topography were altered depending on Δ. Considering the enhancement of Δ, it affected the flux of ions reaching the depositing interface and then the deposition rate, H content, crosslinking degree and surface microstructure. Alumina groups were detected in the infrared spectra, whereas the precipitation of amorphous alumina was confirmed by X-ray diffraction. (author)

  7. Geometric considerations in magnetron sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Thornton, J.A.

    1982-01-01

    The recent development of high performance magnetron type discharge sources has greatly enhaced the range of coating applications where sputtering is a viable deposition process. Magnetron sources can provide high current densities and sputtering rates, even at low pressures. They have much reduced substrate heating rates and can be scaled to large sizes. Magnetron sputter coating apparatuses can have a variety of geometric and plasma configurations. The target geometry affects the emission directions of both the sputtered atoms and the energetic ions which are neutralized and reflected at the cathode. This fact, coupled with the long mean free particle paths which are prevalent at low pressures, can make the coating properties very dependent on the apparatus geometry. This paper reviews the physics of magnetron operation and discusses the influences of apparatus geometry on the use of magnetrons for rf sputtering and reactive sputtering, as well as on the microstructure and internal stresses in sputtered metallic coatings. (author) [pt

  8. Hysteresis behaviour of silver sputtered in different plasma atmospheres at constant flow rates

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rizk, A.; Makar, L.N.; Rizk, N.S.; Shinoda, R.

    1990-01-01

    The effects of ion bombardment on sputtering behaviour of pure silver targets in inert and active gas atmospheres were investigated, using a dc planar magnetron sputtering system. The obtained current-voltage characteristics showed the formation of hysteresis loops without noticeable sharp transitions. Redeposited layers of silver nitride or silver oxide on the target surface when using nitrogen or oxygen in the glow discharge, residual ionization when using dry argon atmosphere were considered the main reasons for the occurrence of these loops. The results indicate that films of AgN x and AgO x can be deposited with controlled x in the range 0 ≤ x ≤ 1 using voltage control at constant gas flow rates. (author)

  9. Determination of the sputter rate variation pattern of a silicon carbide target for radio frequency magnetron sputtering using optical transmission measurements

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Galvez de la Puente, G.; Guerra Torres, J.A.; Erlenbach, O.; Steidl, M.; Weingaertner, R.; De Zela, F.; Winnacker, A.

    2010-01-01

    We produce amorphous silicon carbide thin films (a-SiC) by radio frequency (rf) magnetron sputtering from SiC bulk target. We present the emission pattern of the rf magnetron with SiC target as a function of process parameters, like target sample distance, rf power, sputtering rate and process gas pressure. The emission pattern is determined by means of thickness distribution of the deposited a-SiC films obtained from optical transmission measurements using a slightly improved method of Swanepoel concerning the determination of construction of the envelopes in the interference pattern of the transmission spectra. A calibration curve is presented which allows the conversion of integrated transmission to film thickness. Holding constant a set of process parameters and only varying the target sample distance the emission pattern of the rf magnetron with SiC target was determined, which allowed us to predict the deposition rate distribution for a wide range of process parameters and target geometry. In addition, we have found that the transmission spectra of the a-SiC films change with time and saturate after approximately 10 days. Within this process no change in thickness is involved, so that the determination of thickness using transmission data is justified.

  10. Sputter deposition of wear-resistant coatings within the system Zr-B-N

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Mitterer, C; Uebleis, A; Ebner, R [Inst. fuer Metallkunde und Werkstoffpruefung, Montanuniv., Leoben (Austria)

    1991-07-07

    Wear-resistant coatings of zirconium boride and zirconium boron nitride were deposited on steel and molybdenum substrates employing non-reactive as well as reactive d.c. magnetron sputtering using zirconium diboride targets. The characterization of the coatings was done by means of scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction. The results are discussed in connection with measured mechanical coating properties such as microhardness and adhesion. The optical properties of the coatings were determined using a CIE-L{sup *}a{sup *}b{sup *} colorimeter and specialized corrosion and abrasion tests. Non-reactive sputtering using ZrB{sub 2} targets results in the formation of coatings with a columnar structure and predominantly (001)-orientated ZrB{sub 2} crystals. Coatings deposited at low nitrogen flow rates exhibit very fine-grained or even fracture amorphous structures with a hexagonal Zr-B-N phase derived from the ZrB{sub 2} lattice. A further increase of the nitrogen flow leads to an amorphous film growth. The maximum Vickers microhardness of the coatings was found to be approximately 2300 HV 0.02. Zr-B and Zr-B-N coatings offer a wide range of interesting colours as well as good corrosion and wear resistance. (orig.).

  11. Characterization of Niobium Oxide Films Deposited by High Target Utilization Sputter Sources

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chow, R; Ellis, A D; Loomis, G E; Rana, S I

    2007-01-01

    High quality, refractory metal, oxide coatings are required in a variety of applications such as laser optics, micro-electronic insulating layers, nano-device structures, electro-optic multilayers, sensors and corrosion barriers. A common oxide deposition technique is reactive sputtering because the kinetic mechanism vaporizes almost any solid material in vacuum. Also, the sputtered molecules have higher energies than those generated from thermal evaporation, and so the condensates are smoother and denser than those from thermally-evaporated films. In the typical sputtering system, target erosion is a factor that drives machine availability. In some situations such as nano-layered capacitors, where the device's performance characteristics depends on thick layers, target life becomes a limiting factor on the maximizing device functionality. The keen interest to increase target utilization in sputtering has been addressed in a variety of ways such as target geometry, rotating magnets, and/or shaped magnet arrays. Also, a recent sputtering system has been developed that generates a high density plasma, directs the plasma beam towards the target in a uniform fashion, and erodes the target in a uniform fashion. The purpose of this paper is to characterize and compare niobia films deposited by two types of high target utilization sputtering sources, a rotating magnetron and a high density plasma source. The oxide of interest in this study is niobia because of its high refractive index. The quality of the niobia films were characterized spectroscopically in optical transmission, ellipsometrically, and chemical stoichiometry with X-ray photo-electron spectroscopy. The refractive index, extinction coefficients, Cauchy constants were derived from the ellipsometric modeling. The mechanical properties of coating density and stress are also determined

  12. Properties of tungsten films prepared by magnetron sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ahn, K.Y.; Ting, C.Y.; Brodsky, S.B.; Fryer, P.M.; Davari, B.; Angillelo, J.; Herd, S.R.; Licata, T.

    1986-01-01

    High-rate magnetron sputtering is a relatively simple process to produce tungsten films with good electrical and mechanical properties, and it offers good uniformity, reproducibility, process flexibility, and high throughput. The purity of the sputtered films is affected by the target purity (cold-pressed 99.95%, chemical vapor deposited 99.99% and cast 99.999%), base pressure, deposition rate, and substrate bias. Typical resistivity in films of 2000 to 3000A thickness deposited on Si, poly-Si, and SiO/sub 2/ ranges from 10 to 12 μΩ-cm, and this may be compared with 6 and 11 μΩ-cm by high-temperature evaporation and chemical vapor deposition, respectively. The presence of biaxial stress caused by substrate scanning was determined by x-ray technique. The sputtered films exhibit high compressive stress when deposited at low Ar pressure. It decreases with increasing pressure, and eventually changes sign to become tensile, and increases further with increasing pressure. Effects of processing parameters on films properties, and a comparison of film properties prepared by evaporation and chemical vapor deposition are discussed

  13. Direct current magnetron sputter-deposited ZnO thin films

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hoon, Jian-Wei; Chan, Kah-Yoong; Krishnasamy, Jegenathan; Tou, Teck-Yong; Knipp, Dietmar

    2011-01-01

    Zinc oxide (ZnO) is a very promising electronic material for emerging transparent large-area electronic applications including thin-film sensors, transistors and solar cells. We fabricated ZnO thin films by employing direct current (DC) magnetron sputtering deposition technique. ZnO films with different thicknesses ranging from 150 nm to 750 nm were deposited on glass substrates. The deposition pressure and the substrate temperature were varied from 12 mTorr to 25 mTorr, and from room temperature to 450 deg. C, respectively. The influence of the film thickness, deposition pressure and the substrate temperature on structural and optical properties of the ZnO films was investigated using atomic force microscopy (AFM) and ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) spectrometer. The experimental results reveal that the film thickness, deposition pressure and the substrate temperature play significant role in the structural formation and the optical properties of the deposited ZnO thin films.

  14. DC diode sputtering of titanium: determination of optimal deposition conditions by electrical and spectroscopic investigations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Poitevin, J.M.; Lemperiere, G.; Fourrier, C.

    1976-01-01

    An argon DC glow discharge in a diode sputtering system fitted with a titanium cathode is investigated. The first results fix the boundaries of good working conditions for the discharge; mathematical relations are established for the pressure range 40 to 120 mTorr, anode-cathode lengths from 15 to 60 mm and current densities from 0.6 to 2 mA cm -2 . The deposition rate is found to be proportional to the electrical power if the product pd is kept constant, but the ratio of the deposition rate to discharge power exhibits a maximum for d approximately equal 1.5 lsub(e). Spectroscopic studies of the discharge close to the substrate surface show that the intensity of some arc and spark lines of titanium is also proportional to the deposition rate. Emission spectroscopy shows that hydrogen is produced and quickly pumped during the presputtering stage; its evacuation is necessary to obtain good metallic films. (author)

  15. HF treatment effect for carbon deposition on silicon (111) by DC sputtering technique

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Aji, A. S., E-mail: aji.ravazes70@gmail.com; Darma, Y., E-mail: aji.ravazes70@gmail.com [Quantum Semiconductor and Devices Lab., Physics of Material Electronics Research Division, Department of Physics, Institut Teknologi Bandung (Indonesia)

    2014-03-24

    Surface modifications of Si (111) substrate by HF solution for thin film carbon deposition have been systematically studied. Thin film carbon on Si (111) has been deposited using DC Unbalanced Magnetron Sputtering with carbon pellet doped by 5% Fe as the target. EDAX characterization confirmed that the carbon fraction on Si substrate much higher by dipping a clean Si substrate by HF solution before sputtering process in comparison with carbon fraction on Si substrate just after conventional RCA. Moreover, SEM and AFM images show the uniform thin film carbon on Si with HF treatment, in contrast to the Si without HF solution treatment. These experimental results suggest that HF treatment of Si surface provide Si-H bonds on top Si surface that useful to enhance the carbon deposition during sputtering process. Furthermore, we investigate the thermal stability of thin film carbon on Si by thermal annealing process up to 900 °C. Atomic arrangements during annealing process were characterized by Raman spectroscopy. Raman spectra indicate that thin film carbon on Si is remaining unchanged until 600 °C and carbon atoms start to diffuse toward Si substrate after annealing at 900 °C.

  16. Characteristics of a-IGZO/ITO hybrid layer deposited by magnetron sputtering.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bang, Joon-Ho; Park, Hee-Woo; Cho, Sang-Hyun; Song, Pung-Keun

    2012-04-01

    Transparent a-IGZO (In-Ga-Zn-O) films have been actively studied for use in the fabrication of high-quality TFTs. In this study, a-IGZO films and a-IGZO/ITO double layers were deposited by DC magnetron sputtering under various oxygen flow rates. The a-IGZO films showed an amorphous structure up to 500 degrees C. The deposition rate of these films decreased with an increase in the amount of oxygen gas. The amount of indium atoms in the film was confirmed to be 11.4% higher than the target. The resistivity of double layer follows the rules for parallel DC circuits The maximum Hall mobility of the a-IGZO/ITO double layers was found to be 37.42 cm2/V x N s. The electrical properties of the double layers were strongly dependent on their thickness ratio. The IGZO/ITO double layer was subjected to compressive stress, while the ITO/IGZO double layer was subjected to tensile stress. The bending tolerance was found to depend on the a-IGZO thickness.

  17. Self-sputtering runaway in high power impulse magnetron sputtering: The role of secondary electrons and multiply charged metal ions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Anders, Andre

    2008-01-01

    Self-sputtering runaway in high power impulse magnetron sputtering is closely related to the appearance of multiply charged ions. This conclusion is based on the properties of potential emission of secondary electrons and energy balance considerations. The effect is especially strong for materials whose sputtering yield is marginally greater than unity. The absolute deposition rate increases ∼Q 1/2 , whereas the rate normalized to the average power decreases ∼Q -1/2 , with Q being the mean ion charge state number

  18. Improvement of dielectric properties of BLT thin films deposited by magnetron sputtering

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Besland, M P; Barroy, P R J; Richard-Plouet, M; Tessier, P Y; Brohan, L; Djouadi, M A [Universite de Nantes - Institut des Materiaux Jean Rouxel, UMR CNRS 6502, 2, rue de la Houssiniere BP32229, 44322 Nantes Cedex (France); Borderon, C; Tacon, S Le; Averty, D; Gundel, H W [Institut de Recherche en Electrotechnique et Electronique de Nantes Atlantique, UPRES-EA 1770, IREENA, Universite de Nantes, 2, rue de la Houssiniere, BP 92208, 44322 Nantes Cedex (France)], E-mail: Marie-Paule.Besland@cnrs-imn.fr

    2008-01-15

    Well crystallized BLT thin films were deposited by RF magnetron sputtering using a target of Aurivillius phase Bi{sub 3.25}La{sub 0.75}Ti{sub 3}O{sub 12}(BLT{sub 0,75}), elaborated in our institute. RF sputtering experiments were performed at room temperature with an argon/oxygen mixture, in a pressure range of 20-50 mTorr. Optimisation of the plasma parameters, namely deposition pressure, RF power and oxygen content in the gas phase, allows obtaining BLT films with a chemical composition close to Bi{sub 3.25}La{sub 0.75}Ti{sub 3}O{sub 12}. After ex-situ annealing under oxygen atmosphere at 650 deg. C, BLT films deposited on Pt/TiO{sub 2}/SiO{sub 2}/Si (multilayer) substrates exhibit well defined rod-like grains morphology. A two step deposition process appeared to be necessary in order to reach satisfying dielectric properties. The effect of the plasma parameters on the chemical composition and electrical properties are presented and discussed.

  19. Sputter deposited gallium doped ZnO for TCO applications

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Dietrich, Marc; Kronenberger, Achim; Polity, Angelika; Meyer, Bruno [I. Physikalisches Institut, Justus Liebig Universitaet Giessen (Germany); Blaesing, Juergen; Krost, Alois [FNW/IEP/AHE, Otto-von-Guericke Universitaet Magdeburg (Germany)

    2010-07-01

    Transparent conducting oxides to be used for flat panel or display applications should exhibit low electrical resistivity in line with a high optical transmission in the visible spectral range. Today indium-tin-oxide is the material which meets these requirements best. However, the limited availability of indium makes it useful to search for alternatives and ZnO doped with group III elements are promising candidates. While the Al doping in high concentrations causes problems due to the formation of insulating Al-oxides, Gallium related oxides are typically n-type conducting wide band gap semiconductors. Therefore we deposited Gallium doped ZnO thin films on quartz and sapphire substrates by radio frequency magnetron sputtering with a ZnO/Ga{sub 2}O{sub 3}(3at%) composite target. The substrate temperature and the oxygen flow during the sputtering process were varied to optimise the layer properties. Introducing oxygen to the sputtering gas allowed to vary the resistivity of the films by three orders of magnitude from about 1 {omega}cm down to less than 1 m{omega}cm.

  20. Study on helium-charged titanium films deposited by DC-magnetron sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shi Liqun; Jin Qinhua; Liu Chaozhuo; Xu Shilin; Zhou Zhuying

    2005-01-01

    Helium trapping in the Ti films deposited by DC magnetron sputtering with a He/Ar mixture was studied. He atoms with a surprisingly high concentration (He/Ti atomic ratio is as high as 56%) incorporate evenly in deposited film. The trapped amount of He can be controlled by the helium partial amount. The introduction of the helium with no extra damage (or very low damage) can be realized by choosing suitable deposition conditions. It was also found that because of the formation of nanophase Ti film a relative high He flux for bubble formation is needed and the amount of the retaining He in sputtering Ti films is much higher than that in the coarse-grain Ti films. The nanophase Ti film can accommodate larger concentration of trapped sites to He, which results in a high density and small size of the He bubbles. With increasing He irradiation flux, the grain size of Ti film decreases and the lattice spacing and width of the X-ray diffraction peak increase due to the He introduction, and the film tends to amorphous phase. (authors)

  1. Vacuum Pumping Performance Comparison of Non-Evaporable Getter Thin Films Deposited Using Argon and Krypton as Sputtering Gases

    CERN Document Server

    Liu, Xianghong; He, Yun; Li, Yulin

    2005-01-01

    Owing to the outstanding vacuum performance and the low secondary electron yield, non-evaporable getter (NEG) thin film deposited onto interior walls has gained widespread acceptance and has been incorporated into many accelerator vacuum system designs. The titanium-zirconium-vanadium (T-Zr-V) NEG thin films were deposited onto the interior wall of stainless steel pipes via DC magnetron sputtering method using either argon or krypton gas as sputtering gas. Vacuum pumping evaluation tests were carried out to compare vacuum pumping performances of the Ti-Zr-V NEG thin films deposited using argon or krypton. The results showed much higher initial pumping speed for the Kr-sputtered NEG film than the Ar-sputtered film, though both films have similar activation behavior. The compositions and textures of both thin films were measured to correlate to the pumping performances.

  2. High-surface-quality nanocrystalline InN layers deposited on GaN templates by RF sputtering

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Valdueza-Felip, Sirona; Naranjo, Fernando B.; Gonzalez-Herraez, Miguel [Grupo de Ingenieria Fotonica, Departamento de Electronica, Escuela Politecnica Superior, Universidad de Alcala, Campus Universitario, 28871 Alcala de Henares, Madrid (Spain); Lahourcade, Lise; Monroy, Eva [Equipe mixte CEA-CNRS-UJF, Nanophysique et Semiconducteurs, INAC/SP2M/PSC, CEA-Grenoble, 17 rue des Martyrs, 38054 Grenoble Cedex 9 (France); Fernandez, Susana [Departamento de Energias Renovables, Energia Solar Fotovoltaica, Centro de Investigaciones Energeticas, Medioambientales y Tecnologicas (CIEMAT), Avda. Complutense 22, 28040 Madrid (Spain)

    2011-01-15

    We report a detailed study of the effect of deposition parameters on optical, structural, and morphological properties of InN films grown by reactive radio-frequency (RF) sputtering on GaN-on-sapphire templates in a pure nitrogen atmosphere. Deposition parameters under study are substrate temperature, RF power, and sputtering pressure. Wurtzite crystallographic structure with c-axis preferred growth orientation is confirmed by X-ray diffraction measurements. For the optimized deposition conditions, namely at a substrate temperature of 450 C and RF power of 30 W, InN films present a root-mean-square surface roughness as low as {proportional_to}0.4 nm, comparable to the underlying substrate. The apparent optical bandgap is estimated at 720 nm (1.7 eV) in all cases. However, the InN absorption band tail is strongly influenced by the sputtering pressure due to a change in the species of the plasma. (Copyright copyright 2011 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH and Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

  3. Study of deposition rae coating of Ag thin films by magnetron sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ghanati, M.; Zendehnam, A.

    2003-01-01

    Exact knowledge about deposition rate and its distribution and variation of them with respect to coating parameters (Gas pressure, Distance, discharge current,..) is very vital. In this experimental research coating of Ag thin films by magnetron sputtering have been carried out over Ar pressure range of 10 -2 -10 -1 mbar, and discharge current up to 1000 m.A, and distance between glass substrates to silver target (Cathode) was changed from 5 to 15 cm. The obtained results have been investigated by help of computer curve fitting, and these studies show a very good agreement for the conditions used in this work

  4. Electrical properties of aluminum contacts deposited by DC sputtering method for photovoltaic applications

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Krawczak Ewelina

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available The use of aluminum contacts is common in the process of silicon solar cells production because of low contact resistivity. It has also a great importance in thin film technology for photovoltaics, especially in copper-indium-gallium-diselenide (CIGS devices. The final stage of CIGS cell production is the top contact deposition of high conductivity layer for lateral current collection. Such material has to be highly optically transparent as well. In order to make a contact, metal is deposited onto TCO layer with minimum shadowing to allow as much light as possible into device. The metal grid contact is being made by deposition of few microns of aluminum. The resistivity of the deposited material as well as resistance between the metal grid and TCO layer plays a great role in high quality solar cell production. This paper presents the results of four point probe conductivity analysis of Al thin films deposited by direct current (DC magnetron sputtering method. Influence of technological parameters of the Al deposition process on sheet resistance of deposited layers has been showed. In order to obtain the lowest resistivity of the thin contact layer, optimal set of sputtering parameters, i.e. power applied, deposition time and deposition pressure was found. The resistivity of the contact between two adjacent Al metal fingers deposited onto transparent conductive Al-doped zinc oxide film has been also examined.

  5. Electrical properties of aluminum contacts deposited by DC sputtering method for photovoltaic applications

    Science.gov (United States)

    Krawczak, Ewelina; Gułkowski, Sławomir

    2017-10-01

    The use of aluminum contacts is common in the process of silicon solar cells production because of low contact resistivity. It has also a great importance in thin film technology for photovoltaics, especially in copper-indium-gallium-diselenide (CIGS) devices. The final stage of CIGS cell production is the top contact deposition of high conductivity layer for lateral current collection. Such material has to be highly optically transparent as well. In order to make a contact, metal is deposited onto TCO layer with minimum shadowing to allow as much light as possible into device. The metal grid contact is being made by deposition of few microns of aluminum. The resistivity of the deposited material as well as resistance between the metal grid and TCO layer plays a great role in high quality solar cell production. This paper presents the results of four point probe conductivity analysis of Al thin films deposited by direct current (DC) magnetron sputtering method. Influence of technological parameters of the Al deposition process on sheet resistance of deposited layers has been showed. In order to obtain the lowest resistivity of the thin contact layer, optimal set of sputtering parameters, i.e. power applied, deposition time and deposition pressure was found. The resistivity of the contact between two adjacent Al metal fingers deposited onto transparent conductive Al-doped zinc oxide film has been also examined.

  6. Structural investigation of ZnO:Al films deposited on the Si substrates by radio frequency magnetron sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chen, Y.Y.; Yang, J.R.; Cheng, S.L.; Shiojiri, M.

    2013-01-01

    ZnO:Al films 400 nm thick were prepared on (100) Si substrates by magnetron sputtering. Energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) revealed that in the initial stage of the deposition, an amorphous silicon oxide layer about 4 nm thick formed from damage to the Si substrate due to sputtered particle bombardment and the incorporation of Si atoms with oxygen. Subsequently, a crystalline Si (Zn) layer about 30 nm thick grew on the silicon oxide layer by co-deposition of Si atoms sputtered away from the substrate with Zn atoms from the target. Finally, a ZnO:Al film with columnar grains was deposited on the Si (Zn) layer. The sputtered particle bombardment greatly influenced the structure of the object films. The (0001) lattice fringes of the ZnO:Al film were observed in high-resolution TEM images, and the forbidden 0001 reflection spots in electron diffraction patterns were attributed to double diffraction. Therefore, the appearance of the forbidden reflection did not imply any ordering of Al atoms and/or O vacancies in the ZnO:Al film. - Highlights: • ZnO:Al films were deposited on (100) Si substrate using magnetron sputtering. • An amorphous silicon oxide layer with a thickness of 4 nm was formed on Si substrate. • Crystalline Si (Zn) layer about 30 nm thick grew on amorphous silicon oxide layer. • ZnO:Al film comprising columnar grains was deposited on the Si(Zn) layer. • Lattice image of the ZnO:Al film has been interpreted

  7. Rhodium coated mirrors deposited by magnetron sputtering for fusion applications

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Marot, L.; De Temmerman, G.; Oelhafen, P.; Covarel, G.; Litnovsky, A.

    2007-01-01

    Metallic mirrors will be essential components of all optical spectroscopy and imaging systems for ITER plasma diagnostics. Any change in the mirror performance, in particular, its reflectivity, due to erosion of the surface by charge exchange neutrals or deposition of impurities will influence the quality and reliability of the detected signals. Due to its high reflectivity in the visible wavelength range and its low sputtering yield, rhodium appears as an attractive material for first mirrors in ITER. However, the very high price of the raw material calls for using it in the form of a film deposited onto metallic substrates. The development of a reliable technique for the preparation of high reflectivity rhodium films is therefore of the highest importance. Rhodium layers with thicknesses of up to 2 μm were produced on different substrates of interest (Mo, stainless steel, Cu) by magnetron sputtering. Produced films exhibit a low roughness and crystallite size of about 10 nm with a dense columnar structure. No impurities were detected on the surface after deposition. Scratch tests demonstrate that adhesion properties increase with substrate hardness. Detailed optical characterizations of Rh-coated mirrors as well as results of erosion tests performed both under laboratory conditions and in the TEXTOR tokamak are presented in this paper

  8. Third-order nonlinear optical response of colloidal gold nanoparticles prepared by sputtering deposition

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Castro, Hemerson P. S.; Alencar, Márcio A. R. C.; Hickmann, Jandir M. [Optics and Materials Group–OPTMA, Universidade Federal de Alagoas, CAIXA POSTAL 2051, 57061-970 Maceió (Brazil); Wender, Heberton [Brazilian Synchrotron National Laboratory (LNLS), CNPEM, Rua Giuseppe Máximo Scolfaro 10.000, 13083-970 Campinas (Brazil); Department of Physics, Universidade Federal do Mato Grosso do Sul, 79070-900, Campo Grande (Brazil); Teixeira, Sergio R. [Institute of Physics, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, 91501-970, Porto Alegre (Brazil); Dupont, Jairton [Laboratory of Molecular Catalysis, Institute of Chemistry, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, 91501-970, Porto Alegre (Brazil)

    2013-11-14

    The nonlinear optical responses of gold nanoparticles dispersed in castor oil produced by sputtering deposition were investigated, using the thermally managed Z-scan technique. Particles with spherical shape and 2.6 nm of average diameter were obtained and characterized by transmission electron microscopy and small angle X-ray scattering. This colloid was highly stable, without the presence of chemical impurities, neither stabilizers. It was observed that this system presents a large refractive third-order nonlinear response and a negligible nonlinear absorption. Moreover, the evaluation of the all-optical switching figures of merit demonstrated that the colloidal nanoparticles prepared by sputtering deposition have a good potential for the development of ultrafast photonic devices.

  9. Comparison of the Al back contact deposited by sputtering, e-beam, or thermal evaporation for inverted perovskite solar cells

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wahl, Tina; Hanisch, Jonas; Ahlswede, Erik

    2018-04-01

    In this work, we present inverted perovskite solar cells with Al top electrodes, which were deposited by three different methods. Besides the widely used thermal evaporation of Al, we also used the industrially important high deposition rate processes sputtering and electron beam evaporation for aluminium electrodes and examined the influence of the deposition method on the solar cell performance. The current-voltage characteristics of as grown solar cells with sputtered and e-beam Al electrode show an s-shape due to damage done to the organic electronic transport layers (ETL) during Al deposition. It can be cured by a short annealing step at a moderate temperature so that fill factors  >60% and power conversion efficiencies of almost 12% with negligible hysteresis can be achieved. While solar cells with thermally evaporated Al electrode do not show an s-shape, they also exhibit a clear improvement after a short annealing step. In addition, we varied the thickness of the ETL consisting of a double layer ([6,6]-Phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester and bathocuproine) and investigated the influence on the solar cell parameters for the three different Al deposition methods, which showed distinct dependencies on ETL thickness.

  10. Influence of post-hydrogenation upon electrical, optical and structural properties of hydrogen-less sputter-deposited amorphous silicon

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Gerke, S., E-mail: sebastian.gerke@uni-konstanz.de [Department of Physics, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, 78457 (Germany); Becker, H.-W.; Rogalla, D. [RUBION — Central Unit for Ion Beams and Radioisotopes, University of Bochum, Bochum, 44780 (Germany); Singer, F.; Brinkmann, N.; Fritz, S.; Hammud, A.; Keller, P.; Skorka, D.; Sommer, D. [Department of Physics, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, 78457 (Germany); Weiß, C. [Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE, Heidenhofstraße 2, 79110 Freiburg (Germany); Flege, S. [Department of Materials Science, TU Darmstadt, Darmstadt 64287 (Germany); Hahn, G. [Department of Physics, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, 78457 (Germany); Job, R. [Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Münster University of Applied Sciences, Steinfurt 48565 (Germany); Terheiden, B. [Department of Physics, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, 78457 (Germany)

    2016-01-01

    Amorphous silicon (a-Si) is common in the production of technical devices and can be deposited by several techniques. In this study intrinsic and doped, hydrogen-less amorphous silicon films are RF magnetron sputter deposited and post-hydrogenated in a remote hydrogen plasma reactor at a temperature of 370 °C. Secondary ion mass spectrometry of a boron doped (p) a-Si layer shows that the concentration of dopants in the sputtered layer becomes the same as present in the sputter-target. Improved surface passivation of phosphorous doped 5 Ω cm, FZ, (n) c-Si can be achieved by post-hydrogenation yielding a minority carrier lifetime of ~ 360 μs finding an optimum for ~ 40 nm thin films, deposited at 325 °C. This relatively low minority carrier lifetime indicates high disorder of the hydrogen-less sputter deposited amorphous network. Post-hydrogenation leads to a decrease of the number of localized states within the band gap. Optical band gaps (Taucs gab as well as E{sub 04}) can be determined to ~ 1.88 eV after post-hydrogenation. High resolution transmission electron microscopy and optical Raman investigations show that the sputtered layers are amorphous and stay like this during post-hydrogenation. As a consequence of the missing hydrogen during deposition, sputtered a-Si forms a rough surface compared to CVD a-Si. Atomic force microscopy points out that the roughness decreases by up to 25% during post-hydrogenation. Nuclear resonant reaction analysis permits the investigation of hydrogen depth profiles and allows determining the diffusion coefficients of several post-hydrogenated samples from of a model developed within this work. A dependency of diffusion coefficients on the duration of post-hydrogenation indicates trapping diffusion as the main diffusion mechanism. Additional Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy measurements show that hardly any interstitial hydrogen exists in the post-hydrogenated a-Si layers. The results of this study open the way for

  11. Characterization of copper thin films prepared by metal self-ion beam sputter deposition

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gotoh, Yasuhito; Amioka, Takao; Tsuji, Hiroshi; Ishikawa, Junzo

    1994-01-01

    New deposition technique, 'metal-ion beam self-sputtering' method has been developed. Using metal ions which is the same element with the target material, no contamination with noble gas atoms, which are often used in the conventional sputtering, will occur. In this paper, fundamental measurement of the film purity is reported. As a result of PIXE measurements, it was clarified that only slight amount of iron is incorporated in the films. (author)

  12. Effects of gas flow rate on the structure and elemental composition of tin oxide thin films deposited by RF sputtering

    Science.gov (United States)

    Al-Mansoori, Muntaser; Al-Shaibani, Sahar; Al-Jaeedi, Ahlam; Lee, Jisung; Choi, Daniel; Hasoon, Falah S.

    2017-12-01

    Photovoltaic technology is one of the key answers for a better sustainable future. An important layer in the structure of common photovoltaic cells is the transparent conductive oxide. A widely applied transparent conductive oxide is tin oxide (SnO2). The advantage of using tin oxide comes from its high stability and low cost in processing. In our study, we investigate effects of working gas flow rate and oxygen content in radio frequency (RF)-sputtering system on the growth of intrinsic SnO2 (i-SnO2) layers. X-ray diffraction results showed that amorphous-like with nano-crystallite structure, and the surface roughness varied from 1.715 to 3.936 nm. X-Ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis showed different types of point defects, such as tin interstitials and oxygen vacancies, in deposited i-SnO2 films.

  13. Effects of gas flow rate on the structure and elemental composition of tin oxide thin films deposited by RF sputtering

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Muntaser Al-Mansoori

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available Photovoltaic technology is one of the key answers for a better sustainable future. An important layer in the structure of common photovoltaic cells is the transparent conductive oxide. A widely applied transparent conductive oxide is tin oxide (SnO2. The advantage of using tin oxide comes from its high stability and low cost in processing. In our study, we investigate effects of working gas flow rate and oxygen content in radio frequency (RF-sputtering system on the growth of intrinsic SnO2 (i-SnO2 layers. X-ray diffraction results showed that amorphous-like with nano-crystallite structure, and the surface roughness varied from 1.715 to 3.936 nm. X-Ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis showed different types of point defects, such as tin interstitials and oxygen vacancies, in deposited i-SnO2 films.

  14. Helium-Charged La-Ni-Al Thin Films Deposited by Magnetron Sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shi Liqun; Chen Deming; Xu Shilin; Liu Chaozhu; Hao Wanli; Zhou Zhuyin

    2005-01-01

    An advanced implantation of low energy helium-4 atoms during the La-Ni-Al film growth by adopting magnetron sputtering with Ar/He mixture gases is discussed. Both proton backscattering spectroscopy (PBS) and elastic recoil detection (ERD) analyses were adopted to measure helium concentration of the films and distribution in the near-surface region. Helium atoms with a high concentration incorporate evenly in deposited film. The introduction of the helium with no extra irradiation damage is expected by choosing suitable deposition conditions. It was found that amorphous and crystalline LaNi 5 -type structures can be achieved when sputtered with pure Ar and Ar/He mixture gases at room temperature, respectively. Thermal desorption experiments proposes that a part of hydrogen atoms are bound to trapped helium at crystal and releases together with helium. Only a small fraction of helium is released from the helium-vacancy clusters in lower temperature range and most of helium is released from small size helium bubbles in the high temperature range

  15. Defects, stoichiometry, and electronic transport in SrTiO{sub 3-δ} epilayers: A high pressure oxygen sputter deposition study

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ambwani, P.; Xu, P.; Jeong, J. S.; Deng, R.; Mkhoyan, K. A.; Jalan, B.; Leighton, C., E-mail: leighton@umn.edu [Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455 (United States); Haugstad, G. [Characterization Facility, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455 (United States)

    2016-08-07

    SrTiO{sub 3} is not only of enduring interest due to its unique dielectric, structural, and lattice dynamical properties, but is also the archetypal perovskite oxide semiconductor and a foundational material in oxide heterostructures and electronics. This has naturally focused attention on growth, stoichiometry, and defects in SrTiO{sub 3}, one exciting recent development being such precisely stoichiometric defect-managed thin films that electron mobilities have finally exceeded bulk crystals. This has been achieved only by molecular beam epitaxy, however (and to a somewhat lesser extent pulsed laser deposition (PLD)), and numerous open questions remain. Here, we present a study of the stoichiometry, defects, and structure in SrTiO{sub 3} synthesized by a different method, high pressure oxygen sputtering, relating the results to electronic transport. We find that this form of sputter deposition is also capable of homoepitaxy of precisely stoichiometric SrTiO{sub 3}, but only provided that substrate and target preparation, temperature, pressure, and deposition rate are carefully controlled. Even under these conditions, oxygen-vacancy-doped heteroepitaxial SrTiO{sub 3} films are found to have carrier density, mobility, and conductivity significantly lower than bulk. While surface depletion plays a role, it is argued from particle-induced X-ray emission (PIXE) measurements of trace impurities in commercial sputtering targets that this is also due to deep acceptors such as Fe at 100's of parts-per-million levels. Comparisons of PIXE from SrTiO{sub 3} crystals and polycrystalline targets are shown to be of general interest, with clear implications for sputter and PLD deposition of this important material.

  16. Composition and optical properties tunability of hydrogenated silicon carbonitride thin films deposited by reactive magnetron sputtering

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bachar, A.; Bousquet, A.; Mehdi, H.; Monier, G.; Robert-Goumet, C.; Thomas, L.; Belmahi, M.; Goullet, A.; Sauvage, T.; Tomasella, E.

    2018-06-01

    Radiofrequency reactive magnetron sputtering was used to deposit hydrogenated amorphous silicon carbonitride (a-SiCxNy:H) at 400 °C by sputtering a silicon target under CH4 and N2 reactive gas mixture. Rutherford backscattering spectrometry revealed that the change of reactive gases flow rate (the ratio R = FN2/(FN2+FCH4)) induced a smooth chemical composition tunability from a silicon carbide-like film for R = 0 to a silicon nitride-like one at R = 1 with a large area of silicon carbonitrides between the two regions. The deconvolution of Fourier Transform InfraRed and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy spectrum highlighted a shift of the chemical environment of the deposited films corresponding to the changes seen by RBS. The consequence of these observations is that a control of refractive index in the range of [1.9-2.5] at λ = 633 nm and optical bandgap in the range [2 eV-3.8 eV] have been obtained which induces that these coatings can be used as antireflective coatings in silicon photovoltaic cells.

  17. Deposition of Al/Cu Multilayer By Double Targets Cylindrical DC Magnetron Sputtering System

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    P. Balashabadi

    2013-12-01

    Full Text Available A cylindrical direct current magnetron sputtering coater with two targets for deposition of multilayer thin films and cermet solar selective surfaces has been constructed. The substrate holder was able to rotate around the target for obtaining the uniform layer and separated multilayer phases. The Al/ Cu multilayer film was deposited on the glass substrate at the following conditions: Working gas = Pure argon, Working pressure = 1 Pa, Cathode current = 8 A and cathode voltage = -600 V .Microstructure of the film was investigated by X-Ray Diffraction and the scanning electron microscopy analyses. The elements profile was determined by glow discharge–optical emission spectroscopy analysis. During deposition, both targets with magnetron configuration were sputtered simultaneously by argon ions. A Plasma column on the targets surface was generated by a 290 G permanent magnet unit. Two DC power supply units with three phases input and maximum output of 12 A/1000V were used to deposit the multilayer thin films. A control phase system was used to adjust output voltage.

  18. Mobility Optimization in LaxBa1-xSnO3 Thin Films Deposited via High Pressure Oxygen Sputtering

    Science.gov (United States)

    Postiglione, William Michael

    BaSnO3 (BSO) is one of the most promising semiconducting oxides currently being explored for use in future electronic applications. BSO possesses a unique combination of high room temperature mobility (even at very high carrier concentrations, > 1019 cm-3), wide band gap, and high temperature stability, making it a potentially useful material for myriad applications. Significant challenges remain however in optimizing the properties and processing of epitaxial BSO, a critical step towards industrial applications. In this study we investigate the viability of using high pressure oxygen sputtering to produce high mobility La-doped BSO thin films. In the first part of our investigation we synthesized, using solid state reaction, phase-pure stoichiometric polycrystalline 2% La-doped BaSnO 3 for use as a target material in our sputtering system. We verified the experimental bulk lattice constant, 4.117 A, to be in good agreement with literature values. Next, we set out to optimize the growth conditions for DC sputtering of La doped BaSnO3. We found that mobility for all our films increased monotonically with deposition temperature, suggesting the optimum temperature for deposition is > 900 °C and implicating a likely improvement in transport properties with post-growth thermal anneal. We then preformed systematic studies aimed at probing the effects of varying thickness and deposition rate to optimize the structural and electronic transport properties in unbuffered BSO films. In this report we demonstrate the ability to grow 2% La BSO thin films with an effective dopant activation of essentially 100%. Our films showed fully relaxed (bulk), out-of-plane lattice parameter values when deposited on LaAlO3, MgO, and (LaAlO3)0.3(Sr2 TaAlO6)0.7 substrates, and slightly expanded out-of-plane lattice parameters for films deposited on SrTiO3, GdScO3, and PrScO3 substrates. The surface roughness's of our films were measured via AFM, and determined to be on the nm scale or better

  19. Structure and superconducting properties of Nb-Zr alloy films made by a high-rate sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sekine, Hisashi; Inoue, Kiyoshi; Tachikawa, Kyoji

    1978-01-01

    Superconducting Nb-Zr alloy films have been prepared by a continuous high-rate sputtering on tantalum substrates. A deposition rate of 330 nm/min has been attained. The compositional profile in the Nb-Zr film is quite uniform and the film has nearly the same composition as that of the target. The films deposited in a pure argon atmosphere show a columnar structure grown perpendicular to the substrate. The grain size strongly depends on the substrate temperature. The phase transformations in the Nb-Zr film become more apparent and the structure becomes closer to the equilibrium state as the film is deposited in higher atmosphere pressures and/or at lower target voltages. The superconducting transition temperature T sub(c) of the films is about the same as that of bulk samples. The dependence of T sub(c) on the substrate temperature is explainable on the phase transformations in the film. Critical current density J sub(c) and its anisotropy is closely related to the grain structure of the film. Grain boundaries seem to act as the most predominant flux pinning centers in the films. Effects of oxygen in the sputtering atmosphere on the structure and superconducting properties of the Nb-Zr films have been also investigated. Oxygen significantly decreases the grain size of the film. Oxygen increases J sub(c) but decreases T sub(c) of the film. (auth.)

  20. Aluminum oxide films deposited in low pressure conditions by reactive pulsed dc magnetron sputtering

    CERN Document Server

    Seino, T

    2002-01-01

    The reactive pulsed dc sputtering technique is widely used for the deposition of oxide films. The operating pressure for sputtering is commonly above 0.13 Pa. In this study, however, aluminum oxide (alumina) films were deposited at operating pressures from 0.06 to 0.4 Pa using a sputtering system equipped with a scanning magnetron cathode and a pulsed dc power supply. The pulsed dc power was found to be useful not only to reduce arcing, but also to sustain the discharge at low pressure. The electrical breakdown field, intrinsic stress, O/Al ratio, refractive index, and surface roughness were investigated. Both a low intrinsic stress and an O/Al ratio around the stoichiometry were required to get the film having a high breakdown field. A low operating pressure of 0.1 Pa was found to provide the necessary stress and O/Al ratio targets. A 50-nm-thick alumina film having a maximum breakdown field of 7.4 MV/cm was obtained.

  1. Evaluation of target power supplies for krypton storage in sputter-deposited metals

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Greenwell, E.N.; McClanahan, E.D.; Moss, R.W.

    1986-04-01

    Implantation of 85 Kr in a growing sputtered metal deposit has been studied for the containment of 85 Kr recovered from the reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel. PNL, as part of DOE's research program for 85 Kr storage, has developed krypton trapping storage devices (KTSDs) in a range of sizes for ''cold'' and radioactive testing. The KTSD is a stainless steel canister that contains a sputtering target for depositing an amorphous rare-earth transition metal on the inner wall and simultaneously implanting low-energy krypton ions in the growing deposit. This report covers the design requirements for the target power supply and the description, testing and evaluation of three basic designs. The designs chosen for evaluation were: (1) a standard commercial power supply with an external PNL-designed current interrupter, (2) a commercially manufactured power supply with an integral series-type interrupter, and (3) a commercially manufactured power supply with an integral shunt-type interrupter. The units were compared on the basis of performance, reliability, and life-cycle cost. 8 refs., 9 figs., 2 tabs

  2. Study on re-sputtering during CN{sub x} film deposition through spectroscopic diagnostics of plasma

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Liang, Peipei; Yang, Xu; Li, Hui; Cai, Hua [Department of Optical Science and Engineering, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433 (China); Sun, Jian; Xu, Ning [Department of Optical Science and Engineering, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433 (China); Shanghai Engineering Research Center of Ultra-Precision Optical Manufacturing, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433 (China); Wu, Jiada, E-mail: jdwu@fudan.edu.cn [Department of Optical Science and Engineering, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433 (China); Shanghai Engineering Research Center of Ultra-Precision Optical Manufacturing, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433 (China); Engineering Research Center of Advanced Lighting Technology, Ministry of Education, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433 (China)

    2015-10-15

    A nitrogen-carbon plasma was generated during the deposition of carbon nitride (CN{sub x}) thin films by pulsed laser ablation of a graphite target in a discharge nitrogen plasma, and the optical emission of the generated nitrogen-carbon plasma was measured for the diagnostics of the plasma and the characterization of the process of CN{sub x} film deposition. The nitrogen-carbon plasma was recognized to contain various species including nitrogen molecules and molecular ions excited in the ambient N{sub 2} gas, carbon atoms and atomic ions ablated from the graphite target and CN radicals. The temporal evolution and spatial distribution of the CN emission and their dependence on the substrate bias voltage show two groups of CN radicals flying in opposite directions. One represents the CN radicals formed as the products of the reactions occurring in the nitrogen-carbon plasma, revealing the reactive deposition of CN{sub x} film due to the reactive expansion of the ablation carbon plasma in the discharge nitrogen plasma and the effective formation of gaseous CN radicals as precursors for CN{sub x} film growth. The other one represents the CN radicals re-sputtered from the growing CN{sub x} film by energetic plasma species, evidencing the re-sputtering of the growing film accompanying film growth. And, the re-sputtering presents ion-induced sputtering features.

  3. Sputter-deposited Mg-Al-O thin films: linking molecular dynamics simulations to experiments

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Georgieva, V; Bogaerts, A; Saraiva, M; Depla, D; Jehanathan, N; Lebelev, O I

    2009-01-01

    Using a molecular dynamics model the crystallinity of Mg x Al y O z thin films with a variation in the stoichiometry of the thin film is studied at operating conditions similar to the experimental operating conditions of a dual magnetron sputter deposition system. The films are deposited on a crystalline or amorphous substrate. The Mg metal content in the film ranged from 100% (i.e. MgO film) to 0% (i.e. Al 2 O 3 film). The radial distribution function and density of the films are calculated. The results are compared with x-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy analyses of experimentally deposited thin films by the dual magnetron reactive sputtering process. Both simulation and experimental results show that the structure of the Mg-Al-O film varies from crystalline to amorphous when the Mg concentration decreases. It seems that the crystalline Mg-Al-O films have a MgO structure with Al atoms in between.

  4. Mechanical properties of TiN films deposited by changed-pressure r.f. sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kubo, Y.; Hashimoto, M.

    1991-01-01

    TiN was deposited onto glass, stainless steel and cemented carbide by r.f. magnetron sputtering. The mechanical properties of TiN such as hardness, internal stress and adhesion were assessed by the Vickers microhardness test, the bending method and the modified scratch test. It was found that the operating pressure during sputtering deposition strongly affects these mechanical properties. As the operating pressure is increased beyond 0.6-0.7 Pa, the adhesion of TiN films onto the substrate increases enormously, but the hardness decreases owing to the release of the high compressive stress in the film. Therefore changing the pressure from high to low during deposition could be a good way of optimizing both hardness and adhesion. The effectiveness of this changed-pressure process was experimentally verified by cutting tests using TiN-coated cemented carbide tools. This process will be applicable to any other hard coating materials having high compressive stresses. (orig.)

  5. Ga-doped ZnO films deposited with varying sputtering powers and substrate temperatures by pulsed DC magnetron sputtering and their property improvement potentials

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lee, Sanghun; Cheon, Dongkeun; Kim, Won-Jeong; Ham, Moon-Ho; Lee, Woong

    2012-01-01

    Ga-doped ZnO (GZO) transparent conductive oxide (TCO) films were deposited on glass substrates by pulsed DC magnetron sputtering with varying sputtering power and substrate temperature while fixing the Ga concentration in the sputtering target. The application of higher sputtering power by pulsed DC magnetrons sputtering at a moderate temperature of 423 K results in increased carrier concentration and mobility which accompanied improved doping efficiency and crystalline quality. Substrate temperature was found to be the more dominant parameter in controlling the electrical properties and crystallinity, while the sputtering power played synergistic auxiliary roles. Electrical and optical properties of the GZO TCO films fulfilled requirements for transparent electrodes, despite relatively low substrate temperature (423 K) and small thickness (100 nm). In an attempt to improve the electrical properties of the GZO films by hydrogen-treatment, it was observed that the substitutional Ga plays the complex role of carrier generator as donor and carrier suppressor deactivating the oxygen vacancy simultaneously, which would complicate the property improvement by increasing doping efficiency.

  6. Carbon and tungsten effect on characteristics of sputtered and re-deposited beryllium target layers under deuteron bombardment

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Danelyan, L.S.; Gureev, V.M.; Elistratov, N.G.

    2004-01-01

    The behavior of the plasma facing Be-elements in the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor ITER will be affected by the re-deposition of other eroded plasma facing materials. The effect of carbon- and tungsten-additions on the microstructure, chemical composition and hydrogen isotope accumulation in the sputtered and re-deposited layers of beryllium TGP-56 at its interaction with 200 - 300 eV hydrogen isotope ions was studied in the MAGRAS facility equipped with a magnetron sputtering system. (author)

  7. Epitaxial growth of rhenium with sputtering

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Oh, Seongshik [National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, CO 80305 (United States) and Department of Physics, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL 61801 (United States)]. E-mail: soh@boulder.nist.gov; Hite, Dustin A. [National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, CO 80305 (United States); Cicak, K. [National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, CO 80305 (United States); Osborn, Kevin D. [National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, CO 80305 (United States); Simmonds, Raymond W. [National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, CO 80305 (United States); McDermott, Robert [University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106 (United States); Cooper, Ken B. [University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106 (United States); Steffen, Matthias [University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106 (United States); Martinis, John M. [University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106 (United States); Pappas, David P. [National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, CO 80305 (United States)

    2006-02-21

    We have grown epitaxial Rhenium (Re) (0001) films on {alpha}-Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} (0001) substrates using sputter deposition in an ultra high vacuum system. We find that better epitaxy is achieved with DC rather than with RF sputtering. With DC sputtering, epitaxy is obtained with the substrate temperatures above 700 deg. C and deposition rates below 0.1 nm/s. The epitaxial Re films are typically composed of terraced hexagonal islands with screw dislocations, and island size gets larger with high temperature post-deposition annealing. The growth starts in a three dimensional mode but transforms into two dimensional mode as the film gets thicker. With a thin ({approx}2 nm) seed layer deposited at room temperature and annealed at a high temperature, the initial three dimensional growth can be suppressed. This results in larger islands when a thick film is grown at 850 deg. C on the seed layer. We also find that when a room temperature deposited Re film is annealed to higher temperatures, epitaxial features start to show up above {approx}600 deg. C, but the film tends to be disordered.

  8. Comparison of the surfaces and interfaces formed for sputter and electroless deposited gold contacts on CdZnTe

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bell, Steven J.; Baker, Mark A.; Duarte, Diana D.; Schneider, Andreas; Seller, Paul; Sellin, Paul J.; Veale, Matthew C.; Wilson, Matthew D.

    2018-01-01

    Cadmium zinc telluride (CdZnTe) is a leading sensor material for spectroscopic X/γ-ray imaging in the fields of homeland security, medical imaging, industrial analysis and astrophysics. The metal-semiconductor interface formed during contact deposition is of fundamental importance to the spectroscopic performance of the detector and is primarily determined by the deposition method. A multi-technique analysis of the metal-semiconductor interface formed by sputter and electroless deposition of gold onto (111) aligned CdZnTe is presented. Focused ion beam (FIB) cross section imaging, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) depth profiling and current-voltage (IV) analysis have been applied to determine the structural, chemical and electronic properties of the gold contacts. In a novel approach, principal component analysis has been employed on the XPS depth profiles to extract detailed chemical state information from different depths within the profile. It was found that electroless deposition forms a complicated, graded interface comprised of tellurium oxide, gold/gold telluride particulates, and cadmium chloride. This compared with a sharp transition from surface gold to bulk CdZnTe observed for the interface formed by sputter deposition. The electronic (IV) response for the detector with electroless deposited contacts was symmetric, but was asymmetric for the detector with sputtered gold contacts. This is due to the electroless deposition degrading the difference between the Cd- and Te-faces of the CdZnTe (111) crystal, whilst these differences are maintained for the sputter deposited gold contacts. This work represents an important step in the optimisation of the metal-semiconductor interface which currently is a limiting factor in the development of high resolution CdZnTe detectors.

  9. Stress and stability of sputter deposited A-15 and bcc crystal structure tungsten thin films

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    O' Keefe, M.J.; Stutz, C.E.

    1997-07-01

    Magnetron sputter deposition was used to fabricate body centered cubic (bcc) and A-15 crystal structure W thin films. Previous work demonstrated that the as-deposited crystal structure of the films was dependent on the deposition parameters and that the formation of a metastable A-15 structure was favored over the thermodynamically stable bcc phase when the films contained a few atomic percent oxygen. However, the A-15 phase was shown to irreversibly transform into the bcc phase between 500 C and 650 C and that a significant decrease in the resistivity of the metallic films was measured after the transformation. The current investigation of 150 nm thick, sputter deposited A-15 and bcc tungsten thin films on silicon wafers consisted of a series of experiments in which the stress, resistivity and crystal structure of the films was measured as a function of temperatures cycles in a Flexus 2900 thin film stress measurement system. The as-deposited film stress was found to be a function of the sputtering pressure and presputter time; under conditions in which the as-deposited stress of the film was {approximately}1.5 GPa compressive delamination of the W film from the substrate was observed. Data from the thermal studies indicated that bcc film stress was not affected by annealing but transformation of the A-15 structure resulted in a large tensile increase in the stress of the film, regardless of the as-deposited stress of the film. In several instances, complete transformation of the A-15 structure into the bcc phase resulted in {ge}1 GPa tensile increase in film stress.

  10. Stress and stability of sputter deposited A-15 and bcc crystal structure tungsten thin films

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    O'Keefe, M.J.; Stutz, C.E.

    1997-01-01

    Magnetron sputter deposition was used to fabricate body centered cubic (bcc) and A-15 crystal structure W thin films. Previous work demonstrated that the as-deposited crystal structure of the films was dependent on the deposition parameters and that the formation of a metastable A-15 structure was favored over the thermodynamically stable bcc phase when the films contained a few atomic percent oxygen. However, the A-15 phase was shown to irreversibly transform into the bcc phase between 500 C and 650 C and that a significant decrease in the resistivity of the metallic films was measured after the transformation. The current investigation of 150 nm thick, sputter deposited A-15 and bcc tungsten thin films on silicon wafers consisted of a series of experiments in which the stress, resistivity and crystal structure of the films was measured as a function of temperatures cycles in a Flexus 2900 thin film stress measurement system. The as-deposited film stress was found to be a function of the sputtering pressure and presputter time; under conditions in which the as-deposited stress of the film was approximately1.5 GPa compressive delamination of the W film from the substrate was observed. Data from the thermal studies indicated that bcc film stress was not affected by annealing but transformation of the A-15 structure resulted in a large tensile increase in the stress of the film, regardless of the as-deposited stress of the film. In several instances, complete transformation of the A-15 structure into the bcc phase resulted in ge1 GPa tensile increase in film stress

  11. Effects of oxygen addition in reactive cluster beam deposition of tungsten by magnetron sputtering with gas aggregation

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Polášek, J., E-mail: xpolasekj@seznam.cz [Department of Surface and Plasma Science, Faculty of Mathematics and Physic, Charles University, V Holešovičkách 2, Prague 8, CZ-18000 (Czech Republic); Mašek, K. [Department of Surface and Plasma Science, Faculty of Mathematics and Physic, Charles University, V Holešovičkách 2, Prague 8, CZ-18000 (Czech Republic); Marek, A.; Vyskočil, J. [HVM Plasma Ltd., Na Hutmance 2, Prague 5, CZ-158 00 (Czech Republic)

    2015-09-30

    In this work, we investigated the possibilities of tungsten and tungsten oxide nanoclusters generation by means of non-reactive and reactive magnetron sputtering with gas aggregation. It was found that in pure argon atmosphere, cluster aggregation proceeded in two regimes depending on argon pressure in the aggregation chamber. At the lower pressure, cluster generation was dominated by two-body collisions yielding larger clusters (about 5.5 nm in diameter) at lower rate. At higher pressures, cluster generation was dominated by three-body collisions yielding smaller clusters (3–4 nm in diameter) at higher rate. The small amount of oxygen admixture in the aggregation chamber had considerable influence on cluster aggregation process. At certain critical pressure, the presence of oxygen led to the raise of deposition rate and cluster size. Resulting clusters were composed mostly of tungsten trioxide. The oxygen pressure higher than critical led to the target poisoning and the decrease in the sputtering rate. Critical oxygen pressure decreased with increasing argon pressure, suggesting that cluster aggregation process was influenced by atomic oxygen species (namely, O{sup −} ion) generated by oxygen–argon collisions in the magnetron plasma. - Highlights: • Formation of tungsten and tungsten oxide clusters was observed. • Two modes of cluster aggregation in pure argon atmosphere were found. • Dependence of cluster deposition speed and size on oxygen admixture was observed. • Changes of dependence on oxygen with changing argon pressure were described.

  12. Effects of oxygen addition in reactive cluster beam deposition of tungsten by magnetron sputtering with gas aggregation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Polášek, J.; Mašek, K.; Marek, A.; Vyskočil, J.

    2015-01-01

    In this work, we investigated the possibilities of tungsten and tungsten oxide nanoclusters generation by means of non-reactive and reactive magnetron sputtering with gas aggregation. It was found that in pure argon atmosphere, cluster aggregation proceeded in two regimes depending on argon pressure in the aggregation chamber. At the lower pressure, cluster generation was dominated by two-body collisions yielding larger clusters (about 5.5 nm in diameter) at lower rate. At higher pressures, cluster generation was dominated by three-body collisions yielding smaller clusters (3–4 nm in diameter) at higher rate. The small amount of oxygen admixture in the aggregation chamber had considerable influence on cluster aggregation process. At certain critical pressure, the presence of oxygen led to the raise of deposition rate and cluster size. Resulting clusters were composed mostly of tungsten trioxide. The oxygen pressure higher than critical led to the target poisoning and the decrease in the sputtering rate. Critical oxygen pressure decreased with increasing argon pressure, suggesting that cluster aggregation process was influenced by atomic oxygen species (namely, O"− ion) generated by oxygen–argon collisions in the magnetron plasma. - Highlights: • Formation of tungsten and tungsten oxide clusters was observed. • Two modes of cluster aggregation in pure argon atmosphere were found. • Dependence of cluster deposition speed and size on oxygen admixture was observed. • Changes of dependence on oxygen with changing argon pressure were described.

  13. Turbostratic-like carbon nitride coatings deposited by industrial-scale direct current magnetron sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Louring, S.; Madsen, N.D.; Berthelsen, A.N.; Christensen, B.H.; Almtoft, K.P.; Nielsen, L.P.; Bøttiger, J.

    2013-01-01

    Carbon nitride thin films were deposited by direct current magnetron sputtering in an industrial-scale equipment at different deposition temperatures and substrate bias voltages. The films had N/(N + C) atomic fractions between 0.2 and 0.3 as determined by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Raman spectroscopy provided insight into the ordering and extension of the graphite-like clusters, whereas nanoindentation revealed information on the mechanical properties of the films. The internal compressive film stress was evaluated from the substrate bending method. At low deposition temperatures the films were amorphous, whereas the film deposited at approximately 380 °C had a turbostratic-like structure as confirmed by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy images. The turbostratic-like film had a highly elastic response when subjected to nanoindentation. When a CrN interlayer was deposited between the film and the substrate, XPS and Raman spectroscopy indicated that the turbostratic-like structure was maintained. However, it was inconclusive whether the film still exhibited an extraordinary elastic recovery. An increased substrate bias voltage, without additional heating and without deposition of an interlayer, resulted in a structural ordering, although not to the extent of a turbostratic-like structure. - Highlights: • Carbon nitride films were deposited by industrial-scale magnetron sputtering. • The deposition temperature and the substrate bias voltage were varied. • A turbostratic-like structure was obtained at an elevated deposition temperature. • The turbostratic-like film exhibited a very high elastic recovery. • The influence of a CrN interlayer on the film properties was investigated

  14. Sputter deposition of indium tin oxide onto zinc pthalocyanine: Chemical and electronic properties of the interface studied by photoelectron spectroscopy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gassmann, Jürgen; Brötz, Joachim; Klein, Andreas

    2012-02-01

    The interface chemistry and the energy band alignment at the interface formed during sputter deposition of transparent conducting indium tin oxide (ITO) onto the organic semiconductor zinc phtalocyanine (ZnPc), which is important for inverted, transparent, and stacked organic light emitting diodes, is studied by in situ photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS and UPS). ITO was sputtered at room temperature and a low power density with a face to face arrangement of the target and substrate. With these deposition conditions, no chemical reaction and a low barrier height for charge injection at this interface are observed. The barrier height is comparable to those observed for the reverse deposition sequence, which also confirms the absence of sputter damage.

  15. Control of composition and crystallinity in hydroxyapatite films deposited by electron cyclotron resonance plasma sputtering

    Science.gov (United States)

    Akazawa, Housei; Ueno, Yuko

    2014-01-01

    Hydroxyapatite (HAp) films were deposited by electron cyclotron resonance plasma sputtering under a simultaneous flow of H2O vapor gas. Crystallization during sputter-deposition at elevated temperatures and solid-phase crystallization of amorphous films were compared in terms of film properties. When HAp films were deposited with Ar sputtering gas at temperatures above 460 °C, CaO byproducts precipitated with HAp crystallites. Using Xe instead of Ar resolved the compositional problem, yielding a single HAp phase. Preferentially c-axis-oriented HAp films were obtained at substrate temperatures between 460 and 500 °C and H2O pressures higher than 1×10-2 Pa. The absorption signal of the asymmetric stretching mode of the PO43- unit (ν3) in the Fourier-transform infrared absorption (FT-IR) spectra was the narrowest for films as-crystallized during deposition with Xe, but widest for solid-phase crystallized films. While the symmetric stretching mode of PO43- (ν1) is theoretically IR-inactive, this signal emerged in the FT-IR spectra of solid-phase crystallized films, but was absent for as-crystallized films, indicating superior crystallinity for the latter. The Raman scattering signal corresponding to ν1 PO43- sensitively reflected this crystallinity. The surface hardness of as-crystallized films evaluated by a pencil hardness test was higher than that of solid-phase crystallized films.

  16. EGFET pH Sensor Performance Dependence on Sputtered TiO2 Sensing Membrane Deposition Temperature

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Khairul Aimi Yusof

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Titanium dioxide (TiO2 thin films were sputtered by radio frequency (RF magnetron sputtering method and have been employed as the sensing membrane of an extended gate field effect transistor (EGFET for pH sensing detection application. The TiO2 thin films were deposited onto indium tin oxide (ITO coated glass substrates at room temperature and 200°C, respectively. The effect of deposition temperature on thin film properties and pH detection application was analyzed. The TiO2 samples used as the sensing membrane for EGFET pH-sensor and the current-voltage (I-V, hysteresis, and drift characteristics were examined. The sensitivity of TiO2 EGFET sensing membrane was obtained from the transfer characteristic (I-V curves for different substrate heating temperatures. TiO2 thin film sputtered at room temperature achieved higher sensitivity of 59.89 mV/pH compared to the one deposited at 200°C indicating lower sensitivity of 37.60 mV/pH. Moreover the hysteresis and the drift of TiO2 thin film deposited at room temperature showed lower values compared to the one at 200°C. We have also tested the effect of operating temperature on the performance of the EGFET pH-sensing and found that the temperature effect was very minimal.

  17. Control of the optical properties of silicon and chromium mixed oxides deposited by reactive magnetron sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Vergara, L.; Galindo, R. Escobar; Martinez, R.; Sanchez, O.; Palacio, C.; Albella, J.M.

    2011-01-01

    The development of mixed-oxide thin films allows obtaining materials with better properties than those of the different binary oxides, which makes them suitable for a great number of applications in different fields, such as tribology, optics or microelectronics. In this paper we investigate the deposition of mixed chromium and silicon oxides deposited by reactive magnetron sputtering with a view to use them as optical coatings with an adjustable refractive index. These films have been characterized by means of Rutherford backscattering spectrometry, Auger electron spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy and spectroscopic ellipsometry so as to determine how the deposition conditions influence the characteristics of the material. We have found that the deposition parameter whose influence determines the properties of the films to a greater extent is the amount of oxygen in the reactive sputtering gas.

  18. Direct-current substrate bias effects on amorphous silicon sputter-deposited films for thin film transistor fabrication

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jun, Seung-Ik; Rack, Philip D.; McKnight, Timothy E.; Melechko, Anatoli V.; Simpson, Michael L.

    2005-01-01

    The effect that direct current (dc) substrate bias has on radio frequency-sputter-deposited amorphous silicon (a-Si) films has been investigated. The substrate bias produces a denser a-Si film with fewer defects compared to unbiased films. The reduced number of defects results in a higher resistivity because defect-mediated conduction paths are reduced. Thin film transistors (TFTs) that were completely sputter deposited were fabricated and characterized. The TFT with the biased a-Si film showed lower leakage (off-state) current, higher on/off current ratio, and higher transconductance (field effect mobility) than the TFT with the unbiased a-Si film

  19. Fundamental aspects of cathodic sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Harman, R.

    1979-01-01

    The main fundamental aspects and problems of cathodic sputtering used mainly for thin film deposition and sputter etching are discussed. Among many types of known sputtering techniques the radiofrequency /RF/ diode sputtering is the most universal one and is used for deposition of metals, alloys, metallic compounds, semiconductors and insulators. It seems that nowadays the largest number of working sputtering systems is of diode type. Sometimes also the dc or rf triode sputtering systems are used. The problems in these processes are practically equivalent and comparable with the problems in the diode method and therefore our discussion will be, in most cases applicable for both, the diode and triode methods

  20. Advanced TiC/a-C : H nanocomposite coatings deposited by magnetron sputtering

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Pei, Y.T.; Galvan, D.; Hosson, J.Th.M. De; Strondl, C.

    2006-01-01

    TiC/a-C:H nanocomposite coatings have been deposited by magnetron Sputtering. They consist of 2-5 nm TiC nanocrystallites embedded in the amorphous hydrocarbon (a-C:H) matrix. A transition from a Columnar to a glassy microstructure has been observed in the nanocomposite coatings with increasing

  1. Molecular dynamics simulation of gold cluster growth during sputter deposition

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Abraham, J. W., E-mail: abraham@theo-physik.uni-kiel.de; Bonitz, M., E-mail: bonitz@theo-physik.uni-kiel.de [Institut für Theoretische Physik und Astrophysik, Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel, Leibnizstraße 15, D-24098 Kiel (Germany); Strunskus, T.; Faupel, F. [Institut für Materialwissenschaft, Lehrstuhl für Materialverbunde, Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel, Kaiserstraße 2, D-24143 Kiel (Germany)

    2016-05-14

    We present a molecular dynamics simulation scheme that we apply to study the time evolution of the self-organized growth process of metal cluster assemblies formed by sputter-deposited gold atoms on a planar surface. The simulation model incorporates the characteristics of the plasma-assisted deposition process and allows for an investigation over a wide range of deposition parameters. It is used to obtain data for the cluster properties which can directly be compared with recently published experimental data for gold on polystyrene [M. Schwartzkopf et al., ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 7, 13547 (2015)]. While good agreement is found between the two, the simulations additionally provide valuable time-dependent real-space data of the surface morphology, some of whose details are hidden in the reciprocal-space scattering images that were used for the experimental analysis.

  2. The influence of annealing on yttrium oxide thin film deposited by reactive magnetron sputtering: Process and microstructure

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Y. Mao

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Yttrium oxide thin films were prepared by reactive magnetron sputtering in different deposition condition with various oxygen flow rates. The annealing influence on the yttrium oxide film microstructure is investigated. The oxygen flow shows a hysteresis behavior on the deposition rate. With a low oxygen flow rate, the so called metallic mode process with a high deposition rate (up to 1.4µm/h was achieved, while with a high oxygen flow rate, the process was considered to be in the poisoned mode with an extremely low deposition rate (around 20nm/h. X-ray diffraction (XRD results show that the yttrium oxide films that were produced in the metallic mode represent a mixture of different crystal structures including the metastable monoclinic phase and the stable cubic phase, while the poisoned mode products show a dominating monoclinic phase. The thin films prepared in metallic mode have relatively dense structures with less porosity. Annealing at 600 °C for 15h, as a structure stabilizing process, caused a phase transformation that changes the metastable monoclinic phase to stable cubic phase for both poisoned mode and metallic mode. The composition of yttrium oxide thin films changed from nonstoichiometric to stoichiometric together with a lattice parameter variation during annealing process. For the metallic mode deposition however, cracks were formed due to the thermal expansion coefficient difference between thin film and the substrate material which was not seen in poisoned mode deposition. The yttrium oxide thin films that deposited in different modes give various application options as a nuclear material.

  3. Facing-target sputtering deposition of ZnO films with Pt ultra-thin layers for gas-phase photocatalytic application

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhang Zhonghai; Hossain, Md. Faruk.; Arakawa, Takuya; Takahashi, Takakazu

    2010-01-01

    In this paper, various zinc oxide (ZnO) films are deposited by a versatile and effective dc-reactive facing-target sputtering method. The ratios of Ar to O 2 in the mixture gas are varied from 8:2 to 6:4 at a fixed sputtering pressure of 1.0 Pa. X-ray diffraction, spectrophotometer and scanning electron microscope are used to study the crystal structure, optical property and surface morphology of the as-deposited films. The Pt ultra-thin layer, ∼2 nm thick, is deposited on the surface of ZnO film by dc diode sputtering with a mesh mask controlling the coated area. The photocatalytic activity of ZnO films and Pt-ZnO films is evaluated by decomposition of methanol under UV-vis light irradiation. The variation of photocatalytic activity depends on the ratios of Ar to O 2 , which is mainly attributed to the different grain size and carrier mobility. Though the pure ZnO film normally shows a low gas-phase photocatalytic activity, its activity is significantly enhanced by depositing Pt ultra-thin layer.

  4. Deposition of lead-silicate glassy thin coatings by RF magnetron sputtering: Correlation between deposition parameters and electrical and structural properties

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rigato, V.; Maggioni, G.; Boscarino, D.; Della Mea, G.; Univ. di Trento, Mesiano

    1996-01-01

    Lead-silicate glassy thin films produced by means of Reactive Radio Frequency Magnetron Sputtering have found recent application in the development of MicroStrip Gas Chambers radiation detectors. Here, thin films (100--400 nm) of lead silicate glass have been deposited by RF magnetron sputtering in Ar plasma at different discharge conditions. The interaction of the sputtered species with the gas atoms during the transport process through the discharge region and the kinetics of growth of the films have been investigated as a function of the target composition and of the substrate temperature. This study demonstrates the possibility of controlling the surface electrical resistance of the films in a wide range of values ranging from 10 12 to 10 17 Ω/□ during the film growth

  5. Rhodium-coated mirrors deposited by magnetron sputtering for fusion applications

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Marot, L.; Temmermann, G. de; Oelhafen, P.; Mathys, D.; Covarel, G.; Litnovsky, A.

    2007-01-01

    Metallic mirrors will be essential components of all optical spectroscopy and imaging systems for plasma diagnostics that will be used in ITER. Any change in the mirror performance, in particular its reflectivity, will influence the quality and reliability of detected signals. Due to its high reflectivity in the visible wavelength range and its low sputtering yield, rhodium may be a good candidate material for first mirrors in ITER. However, the very high price of the raw material calls for using it in the form of a film deposited onto metallic substrates. The development of a reliable technique for the preparation of high reflectivity rhodium films is therefore of the highest importance. Rhodium layers with thicknesses of up to 2 μm were produced on different relevant substrates (Mo, Stainless Steel, Cu) by magnetron sputtering. Produced films exhibit a low roughness, crystallite size of about 10 nm with a dense columnar structure. No impurities were detected on the surface after deposition. Scratch test results demonstrate that adhesion properties increase with the substrate hardness. The detailed optical characterizations of Rh coated mirrors as well as the results of erosion tests performed both under laboratory conditions and in TEXTOR will be presented in this paper. (orig.)

  6. Effect of chemical treatment on surface characteristics of sputter deposited Ti-rich NiTi shape memory alloy thin-films

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sharma, S.K.; Mohan, S.

    2014-01-01

    Graphical abstract: FTIR spectra recorded for sputter deposited (a) untreated and (b) chemically treated NiTi SMA thin-films. - Highlights: • The effect of chemical treatment on surface properties of NiTi films demonstrated. • Chemically treated films offer strong ability to form protective TiO 2 layer. • TiO 2 layer formation offer great application prospects in biomedical fields. - Abstract: NiTi thin-films were deposited by DC magnetron sputtering from single alloy target (Ni/Ti:45/55 at.%). The rate of deposition and thickness of sputter deposited films were maintained to ∼35 nm min −1 and 4 μm respectively. A set of sputter deposited NiTi films were selected for specific chemical treatment with the solution comprising of de-ionized water, HF and HNO 3 respectively. The influence of chemical treatment on surface characteristics of NiTi films before and after chemical treatment was investigated for their structure, micro-structure and composition using different analytical techniques. Prior to chemical treatment, the composition of NiTi films using energy dispersive X-ray dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), were found to be 51.8 atomic percent of Ti and 48.2 atomic percent of Ni. The structure and morphology of these films were investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). XRD investigations, demonstrated the presence of dominant Austenite (1 1 0) phase along with Martensite phase, for untreated NiTi films whereas some additional diffraction peaks viz. (1 0 0), (1 0 1), and (2 0 0) corresponding to Rutile and Anatase phase of Titanium dioxide (TiO 2 ) along with parent Austenite (1 1 0) phase were observed for chemically treated NiTi films. FTIR studies, it can be concluded that chemically treated films have higher tendency to form metal oxide/hydroxide than the untreated NiTi films. XPS investigations, demonstrated the presence of Ni-free surface and formation of a protective metal oxide (TiO 2 ) layer on the surface of

  7. Temperature dependence of InN film deposition by an RF plasma-assisted reactive ion beam sputtering deposition technique

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shinoda, Hiroyuki; Mutsukura, Nobuki

    2005-01-01

    Indium nitride (InN) films were deposited on Si(100) substrates using a radiofrequency (RF) plasma-assisted reactive ion beam sputtering deposition technique at various substrate temperatures. The X-ray diffraction patterns of the InN films suggest that the InN films deposited at substrate temperatures up to 370 deg C were cubic crystalline InN; and at 500 deg C, the InN film was hexagonal crystalline InN. In a scanning electron microscope image of the InN film surface, facets of cubic single-crystalline InN grains were clearly observed on the InN film deposited at 370 deg C. The inclusion of metallic indium appeared on the InN film deposited at 500 deg C

  8. Growing LaAlO3/SrTiO3 interfaces by sputter deposition

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    I. M. Dildar

    2015-06-01

    Full Text Available Sputter deposition of oxide materials in a high-pressure oxygen atmosphere is a well-known technique to produce thin films of perovskite oxides in particular. Also interfaces can be fabricated, which we demonstrated recently by growing LaAlO3 on SrTiO3 substrates and showing that the interface showed the same high degree of epitaxy and atomic order as is made by pulsed laser deposition. However, the high pressure sputtering of oxides is not trivial and number of parameters are needed to be optimized for epitaxial growth. Here we elaborate on the earlier work to show that only a relatively small parameter window exists with respect to oxygen pressure, growth temperature, radiofrequency power supply and target to substrate distance. In particular the sensitivity to oxygen pressure makes it more difficult to vary the oxygen stoichiometry at the interface, yielding it insulating rather than conducting.

  9. Structural and optical properties of titanium dioxide films deposited by reactive magnetron sputtering in pure oxygen plasma

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Asanuma, T.; Matsutani, T.; Liu, C.; Mihara, T.; Kiuchi, M.

    2004-01-01

    Titanium dioxide (TiO 2 ) thin films were deposited on unheated quartz (SiO 2 ) substrates in 'pure oxygen' plasma by reactive radio-frequency (rf) magnetron sputtering. The structural and optical properties of deposited films were systematically studied by changing the deposition parameters, and it was very recently found that crystalline TiO 2 films grew effectively in pure O 2 atmosphere. For TiO 2 films deposited at a rf power P rf of 200 W, x-ray diffraction patterns show the following features: (a) no diffraction peak was observed at a total sputtering pressure p tot of 1.3 Pa; (b) rutile (110) diffraction was observed at 4.0 Pa, (c) the dominant diffraction was from anatase (101) planes, with additional diffraction from (200), under p tot between 6.7 and 13 Pa. For the deposition at 140 W, however, crystalline films with mixed phases were observed only between 4.0 and 6.7 Pa. The peaks of both the deposition rate and the anatase weight ratio for the films produced at 140 W were found at p tot of approximately 6.7 Pa. This suggests that the nucleation and growth of TiO 2 films were affected by the composition, density, and kinetic energy of the particles impinging on the substrate surface. The optical absorption edge analysis showed that the optical band gap E g and the constant B could sensitively detect the film growth behavior, and determine the film structure and optical absorption. The change in the shape of the fundamental absorption edge is considered to reflect the variation of density and the short-range structural modifications

  10. High-rate reactive magnetron sputtering of zirconia films for laser optics applications

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Juskevicius, K.; Subacius, A.; Drazdys, R.; Juskenas, R.; Audronis, M.; Matthews, A.; Leyland, A.

    2014-01-01

    ZrO 2 exhibits low optical absorption in the near-UV range and is one of the highest laser-induced damage threshold (LIDT) materials; it is, therefore, very attractive for laser optics applications. This paper reports explorations of reactive sputtering technology for deposition of ZrO 2 films with low extinction coefficient k values in the UV spectrum region at low substrate temperature. A high deposition rate (64 % of the pure metal rate) process is obtained by employing active feedback reactive gas control which creates a stable and repeatable deposition processes in the transition region. Substrate heating at 200 C was found to have no significant effect on the optical ZrO 2 film properties. The addition of nitrogen to a closed-loop controlled process was found to have mostly negative effects in terms of deposition rate and optical properties. Open-loop O 2 gas-regulated ZrO 2 film deposition is slow and requires elevated (200 C) substrate temperature or post-deposition annealing to reduce absorption losses. Refractive indices of the films were distributed in the range n = 2.05-2.20 at 1,000 nm and extinction coefficients were in the range k = 0.6 x 10 -4 and 4.8 x 10 -3 at 350 nm. X-ray diffraction analysis showed crystalline ZrO 2 films consisted of monoclinic + tetragonal phases when produced in Ar/O 2 atmosphere and monoclinic + rhombohedral or a single rhombohedral phase when produced in Ar/O 2 + N 2 . Optical and physical properties of the ZrO 2 layers produced in this study are suitable for high-power laser applications in the near-UV range. (orig.)

  11. TiOx deposited by magnetron sputtering: a joint modelling and experimental study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tonneau, R.; Moskovkin, P.; Pflug, A.; Lucas, S.

    2018-05-01

    This paper presents a 3D multiscale simulation approach to model magnetron reactive sputter deposition of TiOx⩽2 at various O2 inlets and its validation against experimental results. The simulation first involves the transport of sputtered material in a vacuum chamber by means of a three-dimensional direct simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) technique. Second, the film growth at different positions on a 3D substrate is simulated using a kinetic Monte Carlo (kMC) method. When simulating the transport of species in the chamber, wall chemistry reactions are taken into account in order to get the proper content of the reactive species in the volume. Angular and energy distributions of particles are extracted from DSMC and used for film growth modelling by kMC. Along with the simulation, experimental deposition of TiOx coatings on silicon samples placed at different positions on a curved sample holder was performed. The experimental results are in agreement with the simulated ones. For a given coater, the plasma phase hysteresis behaviour, film composition and film morphology are predicted. The used methodology can be applied to any coater and any films. This paves the way to the elaboration of a virtual coater allowing a user to predict composition and morphology of films deposited in silico.

  12. Deposition temperature influence on sputtered nanogranular magnetoresistive composites

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mujika, M.; Arana, S.; Castano, E.

    2007-01-01

    Among different physical principles magnetic sensors for low magnetic field detection can be based on, granular giant magnetoresistances have been studied due to their high sensitivity to small field changes and gradual magnetoresistance change at low fields. Following this aim, nanogranular Ag-Co thin films, deposited by DC co-sputtering from Ag and Co targets at different deposition temperatures have been tested. Samples have been grown at room temperature, 100 and 200 deg. C and annealed in a mixture of N 2 and H 2 at 200 and 300 deg. C for 45 min. The samples that have shown the best performance have been subjected to two sets of measurements where an external field has been applied in-plane and perpendicular to the film plane. The best performance has been shown by the samples deposited at room temperature and annealed at 300 deg. C, reporting a maximum value of magnetoresistance of 16.7% at 1.4 T and a linear sensitivity of 63%/T between 0.04 and 0.07 T within a magnetoresistance range varying from 1.5% to 3% when subjected to an in-plane external field

  13. RF Magnetron Sputtering Deposited W/Ti Thin Film For Smart Window Applications

    Science.gov (United States)

    Oksuz, Lutfi; Kiristi, Melek; Bozduman, Ferhat; Uygun Oksuz, Aysegul

    2014-10-01

    Electrochromic (EC) devices can change reversible and persistent their optical properties in the visible region (400-800 nm) upon charge insertion/extraction according to the applied voltage. A complementary type EC is a device containing two electrochromic layers, one of which is anodically colored such as vanadium oxide (V2 O5) while the other cathodically colored such as tungsten oxide (WO3) which is separated by an ionic conduction layer (electrolyte). The use of a solid electrolyte such as Nafion eliminates the need for containment of the liquid electrolyte, which simplifies the cell design, as well as improves safety and durability. In this work, the EC device was fabricated on a ITO/glass slide. The WO3-TiO2 thin film was deposited by reactive RF magnetron sputtering using a 2-in W/Ti (9:1%wt) target with purity of 99.9% in a mixture gas of argon and oxygen. As a counter electrode layer, V2O5 film was deposited on an ITO/glass substrate using V2O3 target with the same conditions of reactive RF magnetron sputtering. Modified Nafion was used as an electrolyte to complete EC device. The transmittance spectra of the complementary EC device was measured by optical spectrophotometry when a voltage of +/-3 V was applied to the EC device by computer controlled system. The surface morphology of the films was characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) (Fig. 2). The cyclic voltammetry (CV) for EC device was performed by sweeping the potential between +/-3 V at a scan rate of 50 mV/s.

  14. Preparation of tris(8-hydroxyquinolinato)aluminum thin films by sputtering deposition using powder and pressed powder targets

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kawasaki, Hiroharu; Ohshima, Tamiko; Yagyu, Yoshihito; Ihara, Takeshi; Tanaka, Rei; Suda, Yoshiaki

    2017-06-01

    Tris(8-hydroxyquinolinato)aluminum (Alq3) thin films, for use in organic electroluminescence displays, were prepared by a sputtering deposition method using powder and pressed powder targets. Experimental results suggest that Alq3 thin films can be prepared using powder and pressed powder targets, although the films were amorphous. The surface color of the target after deposition became dark brown, and the Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy spectrum changed when using a pressed powder target. The deposition rate of the film using a powder target was higher than that using a pressed powder target. That may be because the electron and ion densities of the plasma generated using the powder target are higher than those when using pressed powder targets under the same deposition conditions. The properties of a thin film prepared using a powder target were almost the same as those of a film prepared using a pressed powder target.

  15. Hollow cathode discharges with gas flow: numerical modelling for the effect on the sputtered atoms and the deposition flux

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bogaerts, Annemie; Okhrimovskyy, Andriy; Baguer, Neyda; Gijbels, Renaat

    2005-01-01

    A model is developed for a cylindrical hollow cathode discharge (HCD), with an axial gas flow (entering through a hole in the cathode bottom). The model combines a commercial computational fluid dynamics program 'FLUENT' to compute the gas flow, with home-developed Monte Carlo and fluid models for the plasma behaviour. In this paper, we focus on the behaviour of the sputtered atoms, and we investigate how the gas flow affects the sputtered atom density profiles and the fluxes, which is important for sputter deposition. The sputtered atom density profiles are not much affected by the gas flow. The flux, on the other hand, is found to be significantly enhanced by the gas flow, but in the present set-up it is far from uniform in the radial direction at the open end of the HCD, where a substrate for deposition could be located

  16. Stress analysis, structure and magnetic properties of sputter deposited Ni-Mn-Ga ferromagnetic shape memory thin films

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Annadurai, A. [Department of Physics, PSG College of Technology, Coimbatore 641004 (India); Manivel Raja, M., E-mail: mraja@dmrl.drdo.in [Defense Metallurgical Research Laboratory, Hyderabad 500058 (India); Prabahar, K.; Kumar, Atul [Defense Metallurgical Research Laboratory, Hyderabad 500058 (India); Kannan, M.D.; Jayakumar, S. [Department of Physics, PSG College of Technology, Coimbatore 641004 (India)

    2011-11-15

    The residual stress instituted in Ni-Mn-Ga thin films during deposition is a key parameter influencing their shape memory applications by affecting its structural and magnetic properties. A series of Ni-Mn-Ga thin films were prepared by dc magnetron sputtering on Si(1 0 0) and glass substrates at four different sputtering powers of 25, 45, 75 and 100 W for systematic investigation of the residual stress and its effect on structure and magnetic properties. The residual stresses in thin films were characterized by a laser scanning technique. The as-deposited films were annealed at 600 deg. C for 1 h in vacuum for structural and magnetic ordering. The compressive stresses observed in as-deposited films transformed into tensile stresses upon annealing. The annealed films were found to be crystalline and possess mixed phases of both austenite and martensite, exhibiting good soft magnetic properties. It was found that the increase of sputtering power induced coarsening in thin films. Typical saturation magnetization and coercivity values were found to be 330 emu/cm{sup 3} and 215 Oe, respectively. The films deposited at 75 and 100 W display both structural and magnetic transitions above room temperature. - Highlights: > Compressive stresses observed in as-deposited films transformed into tensile stresses upon annealing. > Annealed films were found to be crystalline and possess mixed phases of both austenite and martensite, exhibiting good soft magnetic properties. > The highest Curie transition in the films was observed at 365 K. > The films deposited at 75 and 100 W display both structural and magnetic transitions above room temperature.

  17. Superconducting niobium nitride films deposited by unbalanced magnetron sputtering

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Olaya, J.J. [Departamento de Ingenieria Mecanica y Mecatronica, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Ciudad Universitaria, Carrera 30 Numero 45-03, Bogota (Colombia); Huerta, L. [Instituto de Investigaciones en Materiales, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, Circuito exterior s/n, CU Coyoacan, Mexico D.F. 04510 (Mexico); Rodil, S.E. [Instituto de Investigaciones en Materiales, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, Circuito exterior s/n, CU Coyoacan, Mexico D.F. 04510 (Mexico)], E-mail: ser42@iim.unam.mx; Escamilla, R. [Instituto de Investigaciones en Materiales, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, Circuito exterior s/n, CU Coyoacan, Mexico D.F. 04510 (Mexico)

    2008-10-01

    Niobium nitride (NbN) thin films were deposited under different configurations of the magnetic field using a magnetron sputtering system. The magnetic field configuration varied from balanced to unbalanced leading to different growth conditions and film properties. The aim of the paper was to identify correlations between deposition conditions, film properties and the electrical properties, specially the superconductive critical temperature (T{sub C}). The results suggested that there is a critical deposition condition, having an optimum ion-atom arrival ratio that promotes a well ordered and textured nanocrystalline structure (cubic phase) with the minimum residual stress and only under this condition a high critical temperature (16K) was obtained. Lower T{sub C} values around 12K were obtained for the NbN samples having a lower degree of structural perfection and texture, and a larger fraction of intergranular voids. On the other hand, analysis of valence-band spectra showed that the contribution of the Nb 4d states remained essentially constant while the higher T{sub C} was correlated to a higher contribution of the N 2p states.

  18. Superconducting niobium nitride films deposited by unbalanced magnetron sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Olaya, J.J.; Huerta, L.; Rodil, S.E.; Escamilla, R.

    2008-01-01

    Niobium nitride (NbN) thin films were deposited under different configurations of the magnetic field using a magnetron sputtering system. The magnetic field configuration varied from balanced to unbalanced leading to different growth conditions and film properties. The aim of the paper was to identify correlations between deposition conditions, film properties and the electrical properties, specially the superconductive critical temperature (T C ). The results suggested that there is a critical deposition condition, having an optimum ion-atom arrival ratio that promotes a well ordered and textured nanocrystalline structure (cubic phase) with the minimum residual stress and only under this condition a high critical temperature (16K) was obtained. Lower T C values around 12K were obtained for the NbN samples having a lower degree of structural perfection and texture, and a larger fraction of intergranular voids. On the other hand, analysis of valence-band spectra showed that the contribution of the Nb 4d states remained essentially constant while the higher T C was correlated to a higher contribution of the N 2p states

  19. Investigation of photocatalytic activity of titanium dioxide deposited on metallic substrates by DC magnetron sputtering

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Daviðsdóttir, Svava; Canulescu, Stela; Dirscherl, Kai

    2013-01-01

    The photocatalytic properties of titanium dioxide (TiO2) coating in the anatase crystalline structure deposited on aluminium AA1050 alloy and stainless steel S316L substrates were investigated. The coating was prepared by DC magnetron sputtering. The microstructure and surface morphology of the c......The photocatalytic properties of titanium dioxide (TiO2) coating in the anatase crystalline structure deposited on aluminium AA1050 alloy and stainless steel S316L substrates were investigated. The coating was prepared by DC magnetron sputtering. The microstructure and surface morphology...... sweep voltammetry, impedance measurements. The microstructure and surface morphology of the coating were similar irrespective of the nature of the substrate, while the photocatalytic behaviour was found to vary depending on the substrate type. In general the TiO2 coating on stainless steel was shown...

  20. Influence of the deposition geometry on the microstructure of sputter-deposited V-Al-C-N coatings

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Darma, Susan; Krause, Baerbel; Doyle, Stephen; Mangold, Stefan; Baumbach, Tilo [ISS, Karlsruher Institut fuer Technologie (Germany); Ulrich, Sven; Stueber, Michael [IAM-AWP, Karlsruher Institut fuer Technologie (Germany)

    2012-07-01

    Multi-element hard coating materials such as V-Al-C-N are of great interest for many technological applications. Their mechanical properties depend on the composition and microstructure of the coating. In order to determine the optimum composition and deposition conditions of these complex materials, many samples are required. One powerful tool for reducing the number of experiments is based on the so-called combinatorial approach for thin film deposition: many different thin film samples can be realized simultaneously, exploiting the deposition gradient resulting from codeposition of several materials. We will present an X-ray diffraction study of the influence of the deposition geometry on the microstructure of V-Al-C-N coatings. The films were deposited by reactive RF magnetron sputtering from a segmented target composed of AlN and VC. Synchrotron radiation measurements where performed at the beamline PDIFF at ANKA. Significant texture changes were observed which can be attributed to the deposition geometry, as verified by calculations of the flux distribution. We conclude that codeposition can accelerate significantly the screening of new materials, under the condition that the desired property is not significantly influenced by the microstructural changes due to the deposition geometry.

  1. Nano-laminate vs. direct deposition of high permittivity gadolinium scandate on silicon by high pressure sputtering

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Feijoo, P.C., E-mail: pedronska@fis.ucm.es [Dpto. Física Aplicada III (Electricidad y Electrónica), Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Fac. de CC. Físicas. Av/Complutense S/N, E-28040 Madrid (Spain); Pampillón, M.A.; San Andrés, E. [Dpto. Física Aplicada III (Electricidad y Electrónica), Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Fac. de CC. Físicas. Av/Complutense S/N, E-28040 Madrid (Spain); Fierro, J.L.G. [Instituto de Catálisis y Petroleoquímica, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, C/Marie Curie 2, E-28049 Cantoblanco (Spain)

    2015-10-30

    In this work we use the high pressure sputtering technique to deposit the high permittivity dielectric gadolinium scandate on silicon substrates. This nonconventional deposition technique prevents substrate damage and allows for growth of ternary compounds with controlled composition. Two different approaches were assessed: the first one consists of depositing the material directly from a stoichiometric GdScO{sub 3} target; in the second one, we anneal a nano-laminate of < 0.5 nm thick Gd{sub 2}O{sub 3} and Sc{sub 2}O{sub 3} films in order to control the composition of the scandate. Metal–insulator–semiconductor capacitors were fabricated with platinum gates for electrical characterization. Accordingly, we grew a Gd-rich Gd{sub 2−x}Sc{sub x}O{sub 3} film that, in spite of higher leakage currents, presents a better effective relative permittivity of 21 and lower density of defects. - Highlights: • GdScO is deposited on Si as a high permittivity dielectric by two procedures. • Films sputtered from GdScO{sub 3} target are Sc-rich and present thick interface SiO{sub x}. • Gd-rich GdScO is obtained from a nano-laminate sputtered from Sc{sub 2}O{sub 3} and Gd{sub 2}O{sub 3}. • Gd{sub 1.8}Sc{sub 0.2}O{sub 3} shows good effective permittivity and electrical properties.

  2. Gas barrier properties of titanium oxynitride films deposited on polyethylene terephthalate substrates by reactive magnetron sputtering

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lin, M.-C. [Department of Materials Science and Engineering, National ChungHsin University, 250, Kuo-Kung Road, 40227 Taichung, Taiwan (China); Chang, L.-S. [Department of Materials Science and Engineering, National ChungHsin University, 250, Kuo-Kung Road, 40227 Taichung, Taiwan (China)], E-mail: lschang@dragon.nchu.edu.tw; Lin, H.C. [Department of Materials Science and Engineering, National Taiwan University, 1, Roosevelt Road, Sec. 4, 106 Taipei, Taiwan (China)

    2008-03-30

    Titanium oxynitride (TiN{sub x}O{sub y}) films were deposited on polyethylene terephthalate (PET) substrates by means of a reactive radio frequency (RF) magnetron sputtering system in which the power density and substrate bias were the varied parameters. Experimental results show that the deposited TiN{sub x}O{sub y} films exhibited an amorphous or a columnar structure with fine crystalline dependent on power density. The deposition rate increases significantly in conjunction as the power density increases from 2 W/cm{sup 2} to 7 W/cm{sup 2}. The maximum deposition rate occurs, as the substrate bias is -40 V at a certain power densities chosen in this study. The film's roughness slightly decreases with increasing substrate bias. The TiN{sub x}O{sub y} films deposited at power densities above 4 W/cm{sup 2} show a steady Ti:N:O ratio of about 1:1:0.8. The water vapor and oxygen transmission rates of the TiN{sub x}O{sub y} films reach values as low as 0.98 g/m{sup 2}-day-atm and 0.60 cm{sup 3}/m{sup 2}-day-atm which are about 6 and 47 times lower than those of the uncoated PET substrate, respectively. These transmission rates are comparable to those of DLC, carbon-based and Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} barrier films. Therefore, TiN{sub x}O{sub y} films are potential candidates to be used as a gas permeation barrier for PET substrate.

  3. Nitrogen incorporation in sputter deposited molybdenum nitride thin films

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Stöber, Laura, E-mail: laura.stoeber@tuwien.ac.at; Patocka, Florian, E-mail: florian.patocka@tuwien.ac.at; Schneider, Michael, E-mail: michael.schneider@tuwien.ac.at; Schmid, Ulrich, E-mail: ulrich.e366.schmid@tuwien.ac.at [Institute of Sensor and Actuator Systems, TU Wien, Gußhausstraße 27-29, A-1040 Vienna (Austria); Konrath, Jens Peter, E-mail: jenspeter.konrath@infineon.com; Haberl, Verena, E-mail: verena.haberl@infineon.com [Infineon Technologies Austria AG, Siemensstraße 2, 9500 Villach (Austria)

    2016-03-15

    In this paper, the authors report on the high temperature performance of sputter deposited molybdenum (Mo) and molybdenum nitride (Mo{sub 2}N) thin films. Various argon and nitrogen gas compositions are applied for thin film synthetization, and the amount of nitrogen incorporation is determined by Auger measurements. Furthermore, effusion measurements identifying the binding conditions of the nitrogen in the thin film are performed up to 1000 °C. These results are in excellent agreement with film stress and scanning electron microscope analyses, both indicating stable film properties up to annealing temperatures of 500 °C.

  4. Direct sputtering- and electro-deposition of gold coating onto the closed surface of ultralow-density carbon-hydrogen foam cylinder

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Luo, Jiaqiu; Yin, Jialing; Zhang, Hao; Yao, Mengqi; Hu, Wencheng, E-mail: huwc@uestc.edu.cn

    2016-12-15

    Highlights: • The surface pores of P(DVB/St) foam cylinder are sealed by CVD method. • Gold film was deposited on the surface of foam cylinder by magnetron sputtering. • Electroless plating was excluded in the present experiments. • The gold coatings were thickened through the electrodeposition process. - Abstract: This work aimed to fabricate a gold coating on the surface of ultralow-density carbon-hydrogen foam cylinder without electroless plating. Poly (divinylbenzene/styrene) foam cylinder was synthetized by high internal phase emulsion, and chemical vapor deposition polymerization approach was used to form a compact poly-p-xylylene film on the foam cylinder. Conducting gold thin films were directly deposited onto the poly-p-xylylene-modified foam cylinder by magnetron sputtering, and electrochemical deposition was adopted to thicken the gold coatings. The micro-structures and morphologies of poly (divinylbenzene/styrene) foam cylinder and gold coating were observed by field-emission scanning electron microscopy. The gold coating content was investigated by energy-dispersive X-ray. The thicknesses of poly-p-xylylene coating and sputtered gold thin-film were approximately 500 and 100 nm, respectively. After electrochemical deposition, the thickness of gold coating increased to 522 nm, and the gold coating achieved a compact and uniform structure.

  5. Sputtering of molybdenum and tungsten nano rods and nodules irradiated with 150 eV argon ions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ghoniem, N.M.; Sehirlioglu, Alp; Neff, Anton L.; Allain, Jean-Paul; Williams, Brian; Sharghi-Moshtaghin, Reza

    2015-01-01

    Highlights: • The work was motivated by the idea of designing material surface architecture, using the CVD process, that can result in a reduction in the surface sputtering rate as compared to planar surfaces. • We present an experimental investigation of the effects of low energy (150 eV) Ar ions on surface sputtering, amorphization of near-surface layers, and the formation of surface ripples in Mo and W nano-rods and nano-nodules at room temperature. • We show that the sputtering rate decreases in all nano-architecture surfaces as compared to planar surfaces. • We discovered that energy deposition in the near surface layer in W leads to its amorphization at room temperature, to a depth of 5–10 nm. • We also show that surfaces of nano rods become rippled as a result of an ion-induced roughening instability. - Abstract: The influence of surface nano architecture on the sputtering and erosion of tungsten and molybdenum is discussed. We present an experimental investigation of the effects of low energy (150 eV) Ar ions on surface sputtering in Mo and W nano-rods and nano-nodules at room temperature. Measurements of the sputtering rate from Mo and W surfaces with nano architecture indicate that the surface topology plays an important role in the mechanism of surface erosion and restructuring. Chemical vapor deposition (CVD) is utilized as a material processing route to fabricate nano-architectures on the surfaces of W and Mo substrates. First, Re dendrites form as needles with cross-sections that have hexagonal symmetry, and are subsequently employed as scaffolding for further deposition of W and Mo to create nano rod surface architecture. The sputtering of surface atoms in these samples shows a marked dependence on their surface architecture. The sputtering rate is shown to decrease at normal ion incidence in all nano-architecture surfaces as compared to planar surfaces. Moreover, and unlike an increase in sputtering of planar crystalline surfaces, the

  6. Effect of microstructure on mechanical and tribological properties of TiAlSiN nanocomposite coatings deposited by modulated pulsed power magnetron sputtering

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wu, Z.L. [Surface Engineering Laboratory, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116024 (China); College of Engineering, Hunan Agricultural University/Southern Regional Collaborative Innovation Center for Grain and Oil Crops in China, Changsha 410128 (China); Li, Y.G.; Wu, B. [Surface Engineering Laboratory, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116024 (China); Lei, M.K., E-mail: surfeng@dlut.edu.cn [Surface Engineering Laboratory, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116024 (China)

    2015-12-31

    TiAlSiN nanocomposite coatings were deposited in a closed field unbalanced magnetron sputtering system by reactive sputtering from Ti{sub 0.475}Al{sub 0.475}Si{sub 0.05} targets using modulated pulsed power magnetron sputtering (MPPMS) under a floating substrate bias. The ratio of the nitrogen flow rate to the total gas flow rate (f{sub N{sub 2}}) was varied from 0 to 40%. The application of MPPMS as sputtering sources was aimed at generating a high ionization degree of the sputtered material and a high plasma density by using a pulsed high power approach. When f{sub N{sub 2}} = 0%, an amorphous-like structure Ti{sub 0.479}Al{sub 0.454}Si{sub 0.066} coating was deposited with a hardness of 10 GPa. When nitrogen was added, an optimized nanocomposite structure of nc-TiAlN/a-Si{sub 3}N{sub 4} formed in the TiAlSiN coating deposited at f{sub N{sub 2}} = 10%, in which 5–10 nm TiAlN nanocrystallites were embedded in a 2–3 nm thick amorphous Si{sub 3}N{sub 4} matrix. As the f{sub N{sub 2}} was increased up to 40%, the elementary composition of the coatings remained almost the same, but the grain size of nanocrystallites approached to 10–20 nm and the AlN phase gradually precipitated. A maximum hardness (H) of 33.2 GPa, a hardness to the elastic modulus (E) ratio of 0.081 and an H{sup 3}/E*{sup 2} ratio of 0.19 GPa were found in the coating deposited at f{sub N{sub 2}} = 10%. The friction coefficient of the TiAlSiN coatings was around 0.8–0.9 as sliding against a Si{sub 3}N{sub 4} counterpart under a normal load of 0.5 N. A wear rate of 2.0 × 10{sup −5} mm{sup 3} N{sup −1} m{sup −1} was measured in the TiAlSiN coatings deposited at f{sub N{sub 2}} = 20–40%. As only a low residual stress is found in the TiAlSiN coatings, we consider the complete phase separation is responsible for the enhanced mechanical and tribological properties of the nc-TiAlN/a-Si{sub 3}N{sub 4} nanocomposite coatings. - Highlights: • TiAlSiN nanocomposite coatings were prepared by

  7. Comparative analysis of electrophysical properties of ceramic tantalum pentoxide coatings, deposited by electron beam evaporation and magnetron sputtering methods

    Science.gov (United States)

    Donkov, N.; Mateev, E.; Safonov, V.; Zykova, A.; Yakovin, S.; Kolesnikov, D.; Sudzhanskaya, I.; Goncharov, I.; Georgieva, V.

    2014-12-01

    Ta2O5 ceramic coatings have been deposited on glass substrates by e-beam evaporation and magnetron sputtering methods. For the magnetron sputtering process Ta target was used. X-ray diffraction measurements show that these coatings are amorphous. XPS survey spectra of the ceramic Ta2O5 coatings were obtained. All spectra consist of well-defined XPS lines of Ta 4f, 4d, 4p and 4s; O 1s; C 1s. Ta 4f doublets are typical for Ta2O5 coatings with two main peaks. Scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy images of the e-beam evaporated and magnetron sputtered Ta2O5 ceramic coatings have revealed a relatively flat surface with no cracks. The dielectric properties of the tantalum pentoxide coatings have been investigated in the frequency range of 100 Hz to 1 MHz. The electrical behaviour of e-beam evaporated and magnetron sputtered Ta2O5 ceramic coatings have also been compared. The deposition process conditions principally effect the structure parameters and electrical properties of Ta2O5 ceramic coatings. The coatings deposited by different methods demonstrate the range of dielectric parameters due to the structural and stoichiometric composition changes

  8. A Magnetron Sputter Deposition System for the Development of X-Ray Multilayer Optics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Broadway, David

    2015-01-01

    The project objective is to establish the capability to deposit multilayer structures for x-ray, neutron, and extreme ultraviolet (EUV) optic applications through the development of a magnetron sputtering deposition system. A specific goal of this endeavor is to combine multilayer deposition technology with the replication process in order to enhance NASA Marshall Space Flight Center's (MSFC's) position as a world leader in the design of innovative x-ray instrumentation through the development of full shell replicated multilayer optics. The development of multilayer structures are absolutely necessary in order to advance the field of x-ray astronomy by pushing the limit for observing the universe to ever-increasing photon energies (i.e., up to 200 keV or higher), well beyond Chandra's (approx.10 keV) and NuStar's (approx.75 keV) capability. The addition of multilayer technology would significantly enhance the x-ray optics capability at MSFC and allow NASA to maintain its world leadership position in the development, fabrication, and design of innovative x-ray instrumentation, which would be the first of its kind by combining multilayer technology with the mirror replication process. This marriage of these technologies would allow astronomers to see the universe in a new light by pushing to higher energies that are out of reach with today's instruments. To this aim, a magnetron vacuum sputter deposition system for the deposition of novel multilayer thin film x-ray optics is proposed. A significant secondary use of the vacuum deposition system includes the capability to fabricate multilayers for applications in the field of EUV optics for solar physics, neutron optics, and x-ray optics for a broad range of applications including medical imaging.

  9. A Magnetron Sputter Deposition System for the Development of Multilayer X-Ray Optics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Broadway, David; Ramsey, Brian; Gubarev, Mikhail

    2014-01-01

    The proposal objective is to establish the capability to deposit multilayer structures for x-ray, neutron, and EUV optic applications through the development of a magnetron sputtering deposition system. A specific goal of this endeavor is to combine multilayer deposition technology with the replication process in order to enhance the MSFC's position as a world leader in the design of innovative X-ray instrumentation through the development of full shell replicated multilayer optics. The development of multilayer structures is absolutely necessary in order to advance the field of X-ray astronomy by pushing the limit for observing the universe to ever increasing photon energies (i. e. up to 200 keV or higher); well beyond Chandra (approx. 10 keV) and NuStar's (approx. 75 keV) capability. The addition of multilayer technology would significantly enhance the X-ray optics capability at MSFC and allow NASA to maintain its world leadership position in the development, fabrication and design of innovative X-ray instrumentation which would be the first of its kind by combining multilayer technology with the mirror replication process. This marriage of these technologies would allow astronomers to see the universe in a new light by pushing to higher energies that are out of reach with today's instruments.To this aim, a magnetron vacum sputter deposition system for the deposition of novel multilayer thin film X-ray optics is proposed. A significant secondary use of the vacuum deposition system includes the capability to fabricate multilayers for applications in the field of EUV optics for solar physics, neutron optics, and X-ray optics for a broad range of applications including medical imaging.

  10. Fabrication of black-gold coatings by glancing angle deposition with sputtering

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alan Vitrey

    2017-02-01

    Full Text Available The fabrication of black-gold coatings using sputtering is reported here. Glancing angle deposition with a rotating substrate is needed to obtain vertical nanostructures. Enhanced light absorption is obtained in the samples prepared in the ballistic regime with high tilt angles. Under these conditions the diameter distribution of the nanostructures is centered at about 60 nm and the standard deviation is large enough to obtain black-metal behavior in the visible range.

  11. Heating of polymer substrate by discharge plasma in radiofrequency magnetron sputtering deposition

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sirghi, Lucel; Popa, Gheorghe; Hatanaka, Yoshinori

    2006-01-01

    The substrate used for the thin film deposition in a radiofrequency magnetron sputtering deposition system is heated by the deposition plasma. This may change drastically the surface properties of the polymer substrates. Deposition of titanium dioxide thin films on polymethyl methacrylate and polycarbonate substrates resulted in buckling of the substrate surfaces. This effect was evaluated by analysis of atomic force microscopy topography images of the deposited films. The amount of energy received by the substrate surface during the film deposition was determined by a thermal probe. Then, the results of the thermal probe measurements were used to compute the surface temperature of the polymer substrate. The computation revealed that the substrate surface temperature depends on the substrate thickness, discharge power and substrate holder temperature. For the case of the TiO 2 film depositions in the radiofrequency magnetron plasma, the computation indicated substrate surface temperature values under the polymer melting temperature. Therefore, the buckling of polymer substrate surface in the deposition plasma may not be regarded as a temperature driven surface instability, but more as an effect of argon ion bombardment

  12. Structural, optical and electrical characteristics of ITO thin films deposited by sputtering on different polyester substrates

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Guillen, C.; Herrero, J.

    2008-01-01

    Indium tin oxide (ITO) thin films were deposited by sputtering at room temperature on glass and different polyester substrates; namely polyarylate (PA), polycarbonate (PC) and polyethylene terephtalate (PET). The influence of the substrate on the structural, optical and electrical characteristics of the ITO layers was investigated. The sputtered films exhibited crystallization in the (2 2 2) orientation, with higher mean crystallite size and lower structural distortion onto PET than onto PA, PC or glass substrates. ITO films deposited onto PET showed also higher band gap energy, higher carrier concentration and lower resistivity than the ITO layers onto the other tested substrates. These optical and electrical characteristics have been related to the structural distortion that was found dependent on the specific polyester substrate

  13. Additive manufactured Ti6Al4V scaffolds with the RF- magnetron sputter deposited hydroxyapatite coating

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chudinova, E; Surmeneva, M; Surmenev, R; Koptioug, A; Scoglund, P

    2016-01-01

    Present paper reports on the results of surface modification of the additively manufactured porous Ti6Al4V scaffolds. Radio frequency (RF) magnetron sputtering was used to modify the surface of the alloy via deposition of the biocompatible hydroxyapatite (HA) coating. The surface morphology, chemical and phase composition of the HA-coated alloy were studied. It was revealed that RF magnetron sputtering allows preparing a homogeneous HA coating onto the entire surface of scaffolds. (paper)

  14. Structural, chemical and nanomechanical investigations of SiC/polymeric a-C:H films deposited by reactive RF unbalanced magnetron sputtering

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tomastik, C.; Lackner, J. M.; Pauschitz, A.; Roy, M.

    2016-03-01

    Amorphous carbon (or diamond-like carbon, DLC) films have shown a number of important properties usable for a wide range of applications for very thin coatings with low friction and good wear resistance. DLC films alloyed with (semi-)metals show some improved properties and can be deposited by various methods. Among those, the widely used magnetron sputtering of carbon targets is known to increase the number of defects in the films. Therefore, in this paper an alternative approach of depositing silicon-carbide-containing polymeric hydrogenated DLC films using unbalanced magnetron sputtering was investigated. The influence of the C2H2 precursor concentration in the deposition chamber on the chemical and structural properties of the deposited films was investigated by Raman spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and elastic recoil detection analysis. Roughness, mechanical properties and scratch response of the films were evaluated with the help of atomic force microscopy and nanoindentation. The Raman spectra revealed a strong correlation of the film structure with the C2H2 concentration during deposition. A higher C2H2 flow rate results in an increase in SiC content and decrease in hydrogen content in the film. This in turn increases hardness and elastic modulus and decreases the ratio H/E and H3/E2. The highest scratch resistance is exhibited by the film with the highest hardness, and the film having the highest overall sp3 bond content shows the highest elastic recovery during scratching.

  15. Physical Vapor Deposition of Thin Films

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mahan, John E.

    2000-01-01

    A unified treatment of the theories, data, and technologies underlying physical vapor deposition methods With electronic, optical, and magnetic coating technologies increasingly dominating manufacturing in the high-tech industries, there is a growing need for expertise in physical vapor deposition of thin films. This important new work provides researchers and engineers in this field with the information they need to tackle thin film processes in the real world. Presenting a cohesive, thoroughly developed treatment of both fundamental and applied topics, Physical Vapor Deposition of Thin Films incorporates many critical results from across the literature as it imparts a working knowledge of a variety of present-day techniques. Numerous worked examples, extensive references, and more than 100 illustrations and photographs accompany coverage of: * Thermal evaporation, sputtering, and pulsed laser deposition techniques * Key theories and phenomena, including the kinetic theory of gases, adsorption and condensation, high-vacuum pumping dynamics, and sputtering discharges * Trends in sputter yield data and a new simplified collisional model of sputter yield for pure element targets * Quantitative models for film deposition rate, thickness profiles, and thermalization of the sputtered beam

  16. Discharge Characteristic of VHF-DC Superimposed Magnetron Sputtering System

    Science.gov (United States)

    Toyoda, Hirotaka; Fukuoka, Yushi; Fukui, Takashi; Takada, Noriharu; Sasai, Kensuke

    2014-10-01

    Magnetron plasmas are one of the most important tools for sputter deposition of thin films. However, energetic particles from the sputtered target such as backscattered rare gas atoms or oxygen negative ions from oxide targets sometimes induce physical and chemical damages as well as surface roughening to the deposited film surface during the sputtering processes. To suppress kinetic energy of such particles, superposition of RF or VHF power to the DC power has been investigated. In this study, influence of the VHF power superposition on the DC target voltage, which is important factor to determine kinetic energy of high energy particles, is investigated. In the study, 40 MHz VHF power was superimposed to an ITO target and decrease in the target DC voltage was measured as well as deposited film deposition properties such as deposition rate or electrical conductivity. From systematic measurement of the target voltage, it was revealed that the target voltage can be determined by a very simple parameter, i.e., a ratio of VHF power to the total input power (DC and VHF powers) in spite of the DC discharge current. Part of this work was supported by ASTEP, JST.

  17. Intrinsic anomalous surface roughening of TiN films deposited by reactive sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Auger, M. A.; Vazquez, L.; Sanchez, O.; Cuerno, R.; Castro, M.; Jergel, M.

    2006-01-01

    We study surface kinetic roughening of TiN films grown on Si(100) substrates by dc reactive sputtering. The surface morphology of films deposited for different growth times under the same experimental conditions were analyzed by atomic force microscopy. The TiN films exhibit intrinsic anomalous scaling and multiscaling. The film kinetic roughening is characterized by a set of local exponent values α loc =1.0 and β loc =0.39, and global exponent values α=1.7 and β=0.67, with a coarsening exponent of 1/z=0.39. These properties are correlated to the local height-difference distribution function obeying power-law statistics. We associate this intrinsic anomalous scaling with the instability due to nonlocal shadowing effects that take place during thin-film growth by sputtering

  18. Influence of substrate bias voltage on structure and properties of the CrAlN films deposited by unbalanced magnetron sputtering

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lv, Yanhong; Ji, Li; Liu, Xiaohong; Li, Hongxuan; Zhou, Huidi; Chen, Jianmin

    2012-02-01

    The CrAlN films were deposited on silicon and stainless steel substrates by unbalanced magnetron sputtering system. The influence of substrate bias on deposition rate, composition, structure, morphology and properties of the CrAlN films was investigated. The results showed that, with the increase of the substrate bias voltage, the deposition rate decreased accompanied by a change of the preferred orientation of the CrAlN film from (2 2 0) to (2 0 0). The grain size and the average surface roughness of the CrAlN films declined as the bias voltage increases above -100 V. The morphology of the films changed from obviously columnar to dense glass-like structure with the increase of the bias voltage from -50 to -250 V. Meanwhile, the films deposited at moderate bias voltage had better mechanical and tribological properties, while the films deposited at higher bias voltage showed better corrosion resistance. It was found that the corrosion resistance improvement was not only attributed to the low pinhole density of the film, but also to chemical composition of films.

  19. Formation of metal nanoparticles by short-distance sputter deposition in a reactive ion etching chamber

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nie Min; Meng, Dennis Desheng; Sun Kai

    2009-01-01

    A new method is reported to form metal nanoparticles by sputter deposition inside a reactive ion etching chamber with a very short target-substrate distance. The distribution and morphology of nanoparticles are found to be affected by the distance, the ion concentration, and the sputtering time. Densely distributed nanoparticles of various compositions were fabricated on the substrates that were kept at a distance of 130 μm or smaller from the target. When the distance was increased to 510 μm, island structures were formed, indicating the tendency to form continuous thin film with longer distance. The observed trend for nanoparticle formation is opposite to the previously reported mechanism for the formation of nanoparticles by sputtering. A new mechanism based on the seeding effect of the substrate is proposed to interpret the experimental results.

  20. MoOx thin films deposited by magnetron sputtering as an anode for aqueous micro-supercapacitors

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Can; Li, Zhengcao; Zhang, Zhengjun

    2013-12-01

    In order to examine the potential application of non-stoichiometric molybdenum oxide as anode materials for aqueous micro-supercapacitors, conductive MoOx films (2 ⩽ x ⩽ 2.3) deposited via RF magnetron sputtering at different temperatures were systematically studied for composition, structure and electrochemical properties in an aqueous solution of Li2SO4. The MoOx (x ≈ 2.3) film deposited at 150 °C exhibited a higher areal capacitance (31 mF cm-2 measured at 5 mV s-1), best rate capability and excellent stability at potentials below -0.1 V versus saturated calomel electrode, compared to the films deposited at room temperature and at higher temperatures. These superior properties were attributed to the multi-valence composition and mixed-phase microstructure, i.e., the coexistence of MoO2 nanocrystals and amorphous MoOx (2.3 < x ⩽ 3). A mechanism combining Mo(IV) oxidation/reduction on the hydrated MoO2 grain surfaces and cation intercalation/extrusion is proposed to illustrate the pseudo-capacitive process.

  1. MoOx thin films deposited by magnetron sputtering as an anode for aqueous micro-supercapacitors

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Can Liu

    2013-11-01

    Full Text Available In order to examine the potential application of non-stoichiometric molybdenum oxide as anode materials for aqueous micro-supercapacitors, conductive MoOx films (2 ≤ x ≤ 2.3 deposited via RF magnetron sputtering at different temperatures were systematically studied for composition, structure and electrochemical properties in an aqueous solution of Li2SO4. The MoOx (x ≈ 2.3 film deposited at 150 °C exhibited a higher areal capacitance (31 mF cm−2 measured at 5 mV s−1, best rate capability and excellent stability at potentials below −0.1 V versus saturated calomel electrode, compared to the films deposited at room temperature and at higher temperatures. These superior properties were attributed to the multi-valence composition and mixed-phase microstructure, i.e., the coexistence of MoO2 nanocrystals and amorphous MoOx (2.3 < x ≤ 3. A mechanism combining Mo(IV oxidation/reduction on the hydrated MoO2 grain surfaces and cation intercalation/extrusion is proposed to illustrate the pseudo-capacitive process.

  2. Sputtered catalysts

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tyerman, W.J.R.

    1978-01-01

    A method is described for preparing a supported catalyst by a sputtering process. A material that is catalytic, or which is a component of a catalytic system, is sputtered on to the surface of refractory oxide particles that are compatible with the sputtered material and the sputtered particles are consolidated into aggregate form. The oxide particles before sputtering should have a diameter in the range 1000A to 50μ and a porosity less than 0.4 ml/g, and may comprise MgO, Al 2 O 3 or SiO 2 or mixtures of these oxides, including hydraulic cement. The particles may possess catalytic activity by themselves or in combination with the catalytic material deposited on them. Sputtering may be effected epitaxially and consolidation may be effected by compaction pelleting, extrusion or spray drying of a slurry. Examples of the use of such catalysts are given. (U.K.)

  3. Co-sputtered optical films

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Misiano, C; Simonetti, E [Selenia S.p.A., Rome (Italy)

    1977-06-01

    The co-sputtering of two dielectric materials with indices of refraction as widely different as possible has been investigated with the aim of obtaining both homogeneous films with an intermediate index of refraction and inhomogeneous films with predetermined profiles. An rf sputtering module is described which has been especially designed, with two separate cathodes and two independent tunable rf generators. The substrates are placed on a circular anode rotating underneath the two cathodes. So far mainly CeO/sub 2/, TiO2 and SiO/sub 2/ targets have been used. The deposition rate from each cathode and the total film thickness are determined by means of two quartz thickness monitors, sputtering compatible. Values obtained for the refractive index and optical thickness are reported, as well as repeatability, mechanical and chemical characteristics, reliability and high power optical radiation resistance. Finally, results obtained on optical components of practical interest are discussed.

  4. Reduction of residual gas in a sputtering system by auxiliary sputter of rare-earth metal

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Li Dejie

    2002-01-01

    In film deposition by sputtering, the oxidation and nitrification of the sputtered material lead to degradation of film quality, particularly with respect to metal sulfide films. We propose to use auxiliary sputtering as a method to produce a fresh film of rare-earth metal, usually dysprosium (Dy), that absorbs the active gases in a sputtering system, greatly reducing the background pressure and protecting the film from oxidation and nitrification effectively. The influence of the auxiliary sputtering power consumption, sputtering time, and medium gas pressure on the background pressure in the vacuum chamber is investigated in detail. If the auxiliary sputtering power exceeds 120 W and the sputtering time is more than 4 min, the background pressure is only one fourth of the ultimate pressure pumped by an oil diffusion pump. The absorption activity of the sputtered Dy film continues at least an hour after completion of the auxiliary sputter. Applied to film deposition of Ti and ZnS, this technique has been proven to be effective. For the Ti film, the total content of N and O is reduced from 45% to 20% when the auxiliary sputtering power of Dy is 120 W, and the sputtering time is 20 min. In the case of ZnS, the content of O is reduced from 8% to 2%

  5. Deposition and characterization of sputtered hexaboride coatings; Abscheidung und Charakterisierung aufgestaeubter Hexaboridschichten

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Waldhauser, W

    1996-06-01

    Hexaborides of the rare-earth elements ReB{sub 6} are potential materials for cathode applications since they combine properties such as low work function, good electrical conductivity, high melting point as well as low volatility at high temperatures. Due to their high hardness and colorations ranging from blue to purple these compounds are also considered for applications to coatings for decoration of consumer products. At present, either rods of sintered LaB{sub 6} or single LaB{sub 6} crystals are indirectly heated to induce emission. In this workboride coatings were deposited onto various substrates employing non-reactive magnetron sputtering from LaB{sub 6}, CeB{sub 6}, SmB{sub 6} and YB{sub 6} targets. Coatings deposited were examined using scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, electron probe microanalysis. Vickers microhardness, colorimeter and spectroscopic ellipsometry measurements. Electron emission characteristics of the coatings were studied by the thermionic emission and the contact potential method. After optimization of the sputtering parameters fine-columnar or partially amorphous films with atomic ratios of boron to metal in the order of 5 to 7.5 were obtained. The tendency to form the corresponding hexaboride phase decreases from LaB{sub 6}, CeB{sub 6} and SmB{sub 6} to YB{sub 6}. The work function was measured to be in the range of 2.6 to 3.3 eV. Vickers microhardness values lie between 1500 and 2000 HVO.01. LaB{sub 6} coatings showed the most pronounced visual color impression corresponding to dark violet. The results obtained indicate that sputtered hexaboride films are well suited for decorative and thermionic applications. (author)

  6. On performance limitations and property correlations of Al-doped ZnO deposited by radio-frequency sputtering

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Crovetto, Andrea; Ottsen, Tobias Sand; Stamate, Eugen

    2016-01-01

    -pressure regime, we find a generalized dependence of the electrical properties, grain size, texture, and Al content on compressive stress, regardless of sputtering pressure or position on the substrate. In a high-pressure regime, a porous microstructure limits the achievable resistivity and causes it to increase......The electrical properties of RF-sputtered Al-doped ZnO are often spatially inhomogeneous and strongly dependent on deposition parameters. In this work, we study the mechanisms that limit the minimum resistivity achievable under different deposition regimes. In a low- and intermediate...... over time as well. The primary cause of inhomogeneity in the electrical properties is identified as energetic particle bombardment. Inhomogeneity in oxygen content is also observed, but its effect on the electrical properties is small and limited to the carrier mobility....

  7. Microstructure and phase composition of sputter-deposited zirconia-yttria films

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Knoll, R.W.; Bradley, E.R.

    1983-11-01

    Thin ZrO 2 -Y 2 O 3 coatings ranging in composition from 3 to 15 mole % Y 2 O 3 were produced by rf sputter deposition. This composition range spanned the region on the equilibrium ZrO 2 -Y 2 O 3 phase diagram corresponding to partially stabilized zirconia (a mixture of tetragonal ZrO 2 and cubic solid solution). Microstructural characteristics and crystalline phase composition of as-deposited and heat treated films (1100 0 C and 1500 0 C) were determined by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and by x-ray diffraction (XRD). Effects of substrate bias (0 approx. 250 volts), which induced ion bombardment of the film during growth, were also studied. The as-deposited ZrO 2 -Y 2 O 3 films were single phase over the composition range studied, and XRD data indicated considerable local atomic disorder in the lattice. Films produced at low bias contained intergranular voids, pronounced columnar growth, and porosity between columns. At high bias, the microstructure was denser, and films contained high compressive stress. After heat treatment, all deposits remained single phase, therefore a microstructure and precipitate distribution characteristic of toughened, partially stabilized zirconia appear to be difficult to achieve in vapor deposited zirconia coatings

  8. Contributions of solar-wind induced potential sputtering to the lunar surface erosion rate and it's exosphere

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alnussirat, S. T.; Barghouty, A. F.; Edmunson, J. E.; Sabra, M. S.; Rickman, D. L.

    2018-04-01

    Sputtering of lunar regolith by solar-wind protons and heavy ions with kinetic energies of about 1 keV/amu is an important erosive process that affects the lunar surface and exosphere. It plays an important role in changing the chemical composition and thickness of the surface layer, and in introducing material into the exosphere. Kinetic sputtering is well modeled and understood, but understanding of mechanisms of potential sputtering has lagged behind. In this study we differentiate the contributions of potential sputtering from the standard (kinetic) sputtering in changing the chemical composition and erosion rate of the lunar surface. Also we study the contribution of potential sputtering in developing the lunar exosphere. Our results show that potential sputtering enhances the total characteristic sputtering erosion rate by about 44%, and reduces sputtering time scales by the same amount. Potential sputtering also introduces more material into the lunar exosphere.

  9. Direct current magnetron sputtering deposition of InN thin films

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cai Xingmin; Hao Yanqing; Zhang Dongping; Fan Ping

    2009-01-01

    In this paper, InN thin films were deposited on Si (1 0 0) and K9 glass by reactive direct current magnetron sputtering. The target was In metal with the purity of 99.999% and the gases were Ar (99.999%) and N 2 (99.999%). The properties of InN thin films were studied. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) shows that the film surface is very rough and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) shows that the film contains In, N and very little O. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Raman scattering reveal that the film mainly contains hexagonal InN. The four-probe measurement shows that InN film is conductive. The transmission measurement demonstrates that the transmission of InN deposited on K9 glass is as low as 0.5% from 400 nm to 800 nm.

  10. Applications of ZnO:Al deposited by RF sputtering to InN low-cost technology

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Fernandez, S. [Departamento de Energias Renovables, Energia Solar Fotovoltaica, Centro de Investigaciones Energeticas, Medioambientales y Tecnologicas (CIEMAT), Madrid (Spain); Naranjo, F.B.; Valdueza-Felip, S. [Grupo de Ingenieria Fotonica, Departamento de Electronica, Escuela Politecnica Superior, Universidad de Alcala Campus Universitario, Madrid (Spain); Abril, O. de [ISOM y Departamento de Fisica Aplicada, Escuela Tecnica Superior de Ingenieros de Telecomunicacion, Universidad Politenica de Madrid (Spain)

    2010-07-15

    InN/ZnO:Al heterostructures deposited at low temperature on different substrates by radio-frequency sputtering were studied. Using ZnO:Al as buffer layer, an improvement in the InN structural properties was achieved. Evaluating ZnO:Al as contact on InN, an Ohmic behaviour for the as-deposited layer on InN was achieved. A specific contact resistance of 2 {omega} cm{sup 2} was measured without any post-deposition treatment. These properties could result very promising for optoelectronic device applications. (Abstract Copyright [2010], Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

  11. Stress evolution during and after sputter deposition of thin Cu Al alloy films

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pletea, M.; Wendrock, H.; Kaltofen, R.; Schmidt, O. G.; Koch, R.

    2008-06-01

    The stress evolution during and after sputter deposition of thin Cu-Al alloy films containing 1 and 2 at.% Al onto oxidized Si(100) substrates has been studied up to thicknesses of 300 nm by means of in situ substrate curvature measurements. In order to correlate stress and morphology, the microstructure was investigated by focused ion beam microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and atomic force microscopy. The evolution of the stress and microstructure of the Cu-Al alloy films is similar to that for sputtered pure Cu films. Film growth proceeds in the Volmer-Weber mode, typical for high mobility metals. It is characterized by nucleation, island, percolation, and channel stages before the films become continuous, as well as lateral grain growth in the compact films. With increasing Al content the overall atom mobility and, thus, the average grain size of the alloy films are reduced. Increase of the sputter pressure from 0.5 to 2 Pa leads to films with larger grain size, rougher surface morphology and higher electrical resistivity.

  12. Characteristics of Bilayer Molybdenum Films Deposited Using RF Sputtering for Back Contact of Thin Film Solar Cells

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sea-Fue Wang

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Mo films prepared under a single deposition condition seldom simultaneously obtain a low resistivity and a good adhesion necessary for use in solar cells. In order to surmount the obstacle, bilayer Mo films using DC sputtering at a higher working pressure and a lower working pressure have been attempted as reported in the literature. In this study, RF sputtering with different powers in conjunction with different working pressures was explored to prepare bilayer Mo film. The first bottom layer was grown at a RF sputtering power of 30 W and a working pressure of 12 mTorr, and the second top layer was deposited at 100 W and 4.5 mTorr. The films revealed a columnar growth with a preferred orientation along the (110 plane. The bilayer Mo films reported an electrical resistivity of 6.35 × 10−5 Ω-cm and passed the Scotch tape test for adhesion to the soda-lime glass substrate, thereby qualifying the bilayer Mo films for use as back metal contacts for CIGS substrates.

  13. Effect of deposition parameters on properties of ITO films prepared by reactive middle frequency pulsed dual magnetron sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rogozin, A.I.; Vinnichenko, M.V.; Kolitsch, A.; Moeller, W.

    2004-01-01

    ITO layers with low resistivity and high visible transmittance were produced by means of middle frequency reactive dual magnetron sputtering. The influence of base pressure, Ar/O 2 ratio and magnetron pulse duration on the film composition, structure, electrical, and optical properties has been investigated. The deposition rate is proportional to the magnetron operation power at changing pulse duration and constant Ar and O 2 flows. At enhanced O 2 flows an onset of the magnetron target oxidation is discussed as a reason for the decrease of the deposition rate. The presence of water vapor in the residual gas is determined to be a reason for deterioration of resistivity and optical transmittance observed for ITO films produced at a base pressures higher than 5·10 -4 Pa. It is demonstrated that spectroscopic ellipsometry can be used as a noncontact tool to monitor the resistivity of ITO films

  14. Deposition of Cu-doped PbS thin films with low resistivity using DC sputtering

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hariyadi Soetedjo

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available Investigation of the electrical resistivity of Cu-doped PbS thin films has been carried out. The films were prepared using a DC sputtering technique. The doping was achieved by introducing the Cu dopant plate material directly on the surface of the PbS sputtering target plate. SEM-EDX data shows the Cu concentration in the PbS film to be proportional to the Cu plate diameter. The XRD pattern indicates the film is in crystalline cubic form. The Hall effect measurement shows that Cu doping yields an increase in the carrier concentration to 3.55 × 1019 cm−3 and a significant decrease in electrical resistivity. The lowest resistivity obtained was 0.13 Ωcm for a Cu concentration of 18.5%. Preferential orientation of (1 1 1 and (2 0 0 occurs during deposition. Keywords: Thin films, Lead sulfide, Sputtering, Resistivity, Semiconductor, Infrared

  15. Residual stress and texture in Aluminum doped Zinc Oxide layers deposited by reactive radio frequency magnetron sputtering

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Azanza Ricardo, C.L., E-mail: Cristy.Azanza@ing.unitn.it [Department of Civil, Environmental and Mechanical Engineering, University of Trento, 38123 via Mesiano 77, Trento (Italy); Pastorelli, M.; D' Incau, M. [Department of Civil, Environmental and Mechanical Engineering, University of Trento, 38123 via Mesiano 77, Trento (Italy); Aswath, P. [College of Engineering, University of Texas at Arlington, TX (United States); Scardi, P. [Department of Civil, Environmental and Mechanical Engineering, University of Trento, 38123 via Mesiano 77, Trento (Italy)

    2016-04-30

    Aluminum doped Zinc Oxide thin films were deposited on standard soda-lime substrates by reactive radio frequency magnetron sputtering. Residual stress and texture were studied by X-ray diffraction, while X-ray Absorption Near Edge Spectroscopy provided information on the Al environment in the best performing thin films. The influence of deposition parameters on structural and microstructural properties is discussed. A correlation between microstructure and residual stress state with electrical and optical properties is proposed. - Highlights: • Al doped ZnO thin films were obtained by reactive radio frequency magnetron sputtering. • Correlation of stresses and texture with electrical and optical properties is shown. • Homogeneous and stress-free thin-films are the best performing ones. • XANES confirmed the doping mechanism and excluded some spurious phases.

  16. Reactive magnetron sputtering deposition of bismuth tungstate onto titania nanoparticles for enhancing visible light photocatalytic activity

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ratova, Marina, E-mail: marina_ratova@hotmail.com [Surface Engineering Group, School of Engineering, Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester, M1 5GD (United Kingdom); Kelly, Peter J.; West, Glen T. [Surface Engineering Group, School of Engineering, Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester, M1 5GD (United Kingdom); Tosheva, Lubomira; Edge, Michele [School of Science and the Environment, Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester M1 5GD (United Kingdom)

    2017-01-15

    Highlights: • Bismuth tungstate coatings were deposited by reactive magnetron sputtering. • Oscillating bowl was introduced to the system to enable coating of nanopartulates. • Deposition of Bi{sub 2}WO{sub 6} enhanced visible light activity of titania nanoparticles. • The best results were obtained for coating with Bi:W ratio of approximately 2:1. • Deposition of Bi{sub 2}WO{sub 6} onto TiO{sub 2} resulted in more efficient electron-hole separation. - Abstract: Titanium dioxide − bismuth tungstate composite materials were prepared by pulsed DC reactive magnetron sputtering of bismuth and tungsten metallic targets in argon/oxygen atmosphere onto anatase and rutile titania nanoparticles. The use of an oscillating bowl placed beneath the two magnetrons arranged in a co-planar closed field configuration enabled the deposition of bismuth tungstate onto loose powders, rather than a solid substrate. The atomic ratio of the bismuth/tungsten coatings was controlled by varying the power applied to each target. The effect of the bismuth tungstate coatings on the phase, optical and photocatalytic properties of titania was investigated by X-ray diffraction, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) surface area measurements, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), UV–vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy and an acetone degradation test. The latter involved measurements of the rate of CO{sub 2} evolution under visible light irradiation of the photocatalysts, which indicated that the deposition of bismuth tungstate resulted in a significant enhancement of visible light activity, for both anatase and rutile titania particles. The best results were achieved for coatings with a bismuth to tungsten atomic ratio of 2:1. In addition, the mechanism by which the photocatalytic activity of the TiO{sub 2} nanoparticles was enhanced by compounding it with bismuth tungstate was studied by microwave cavity perturbation. The results of these

  17. Deuterium trapping in the carbon-silicon co-deposition layers prepared by RF sputtering in D2 atmosphere

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Hongliang; Zhang, Weiyuan; Su, Ranran; Tu, Hanjun; Shi, Liqun; Hu, Jiansheng

    2018-04-01

    Deuterated carbon-silicon layers co-deposited on graphite and silicon substrates by radio frequency magnetron sputtering in pure D2 plasma were produced to study deuterium trapping and characteristics of the C-Si layers. The C-Si co-deposited layers were examined by ion beam analysis (IBA), Raman spectroscopy (RS), infrared absorption (IR) spectroscopy, thermal desorption spectroscopy (TDS) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). It was found that the growth rate of the C-Si co-deposition layer decreased with increasing temperature from 350 K to 800 K, the D concentration and C/Si ratios increased differently on graphite and silicon substrates. TDS shows that D desorption is mainly as D2, HD, HDO, CD4, and C2D4 and release peaks occurred at temperatures of less than 900 K. RS and IR analysis reveal that the structure of the C-Si layers became more disordered with increasing temperatures. Rounded areas of peeling with 1-2 μm diameters were observed on the surface.

  18. Second order nonlinear optical properties of zinc oxide films deposited by low temperature dual ion beam sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Larciprete, M.C.; Passeri, D.; Michelotti, F.; Paoloni, S.; Sibilia, C.; Bertolotti, M.; Belardini, A.; Sarto, F.; Somma, F.; Lo Mastro, S.

    2005-01-01

    We investigated second order optical nonlinearity of zinc oxide thin films, grown on glass substrates by the dual ion beam sputtering technique under different deposition conditions. Linear optical characterization of the films was carried out by spectrophotometric optical transmittance and reflectance measurements, giving the complex refractive index dispersion. Resistivity of the films was determined using the four-point probe sheet resistance method. Second harmonic generation measurements were performed by means of the Maker fringes technique where the fundamental beam was originated by nanosecond laser at λ=1064 nm. We found a relatively high nonlinear optical response, and evidence of a dependence of the nonlinear coefficient on the deposition parameters for each sample. Moreover, the crystalline properties of the films were investigated by x-ray diffraction measurements and correlation with second order nonlinearity were analyzed. Finally, we investigated the influence of the oxygen flow rate during the deposition process on both the second order nonlinearity and the structural properties of the samples

  19. Pulsed dc self-sustained magnetron sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wiatrowski, A.; Posadowski, W. M.; Radzimski, Z. J.

    2008-01-01

    The magnetron sputtering has become one of the commonly used techniques for industrial deposition of thin films and coatings due to its simplicity and reliability. At standard magnetron sputtering conditions (argon pressure of ∼0.5 Pa) inert gas particles (necessary to sustain discharge) are often entrapped in the deposited films. Inert gas contamination can be eliminated during the self-sustained magnetron sputtering (SSS) process, where the presence of the inert gas is not a necessary requirement. Moreover the SSS process that is possible due to the high degree of ionization of the sputtered material also gives a unique condition during the transport of sputtered particles to the substrate. So far it has been shown that the self-sustained mode of magnetron operation can be obtained using dc powering (dc-SSS) only. The main disadvantage of the dc-SSS process is its instability related to random arc formation. In such case the discharge has to be temporarily extinguished to prevent damaging both the magnetron source and power supply. The authors postulate that pulsed powering could protect the SSS process against arcs, similarly to reactive pulsed magnetron deposition processes of insulating thin films. To put this concept into practice, (i) the high enough plasma density has to be achieved and (ii) the type of pulsed powering has to be chosen taking plasma dynamics into account. In this article results of pulsed dc self-sustained magnetron sputtering (pulsed dc-SSS) are presented. The planar magnetron equipped with a 50 mm diameter and 6 mm thick copper target was used during the experiments. The maximum target power was about 11 kW, which corresponded to the target power density of ∼560 W/cm 2 . The magnetron operation was investigated as a function of pulse frequency (20-100 kHz) and pulse duty factor (50%-90%). The discharge (argon) extinction pressure level was determined for these conditions. The plasma emission spectra (400-410 nm range) and deposition

  20. Arc generation from sputtering plasma-dielectric inclusion interactions

    CERN Document Server

    Wickersham, C E J; Fan, J S

    2002-01-01

    Arcing during sputter deposition and etching is a significant cause of particle defect generation during device fabrication. In this article we report on the effect of aluminum oxide inclusion size, shape, and orientation on the propensity for arcing during sputtering of aluminum targets. The size, shape, and orientation of a dielectric inclusion plays a major role in determining the propensity for arcing and macroparticle emission. In previous studies we found that there is a critical inclusion size required for arcing to occur. In this article we used high-speed videos, electric arc detection, and measurements of particle defect density on wafers to study the effect of Al sub 2 O sub 3 inclusion size, shape, and orientation on arc rate, intensity, and silicon wafer particle defect density. We found that the cross-sectional area of the inclusion exposed to the sputtering plasma is the critical parameter that determines the arc rate and rate of macroparticle emission. Analysis of the arc rate, particle defect...

  1. Microstructure of thin film platinum electrodes on yttrium stabilized zirconia prepared by sputter deposition

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Toghan, Arafat, E-mail: arafat.toghan@pci.uni-hannover.de [Institute of Physical Chemistry and Electrochemistry, Leibniz University of Hannover, Callinstrasse 3-3a, D-30167 Hannover (Germany); Khodari, M. [Chemistry Department, Faculty of Science, South Valley University, Qena, 83523 (Egypt); Steinbach, F.; Imbihl, R. [Institute of Physical Chemistry and Electrochemistry, Leibniz University of Hannover, Callinstrasse 3-3a, D-30167 Hannover (Germany)

    2011-09-01

    (111) oriented thin film Pt electrodes were prepared on single crystals of yttrium-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) by sputter deposition of platinum. The electrodes were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), selected area electron diffraction (SAED), X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy-dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX), atomic force microscopy (AFM) and by profilometry. SEM images of the as-sputtered platinum film show a compact amorphous Pt film covering uniformly the substrate. Upon annealing at 1123 K, gaps and pores at the interface develop leading to a partial dewetting of the Pt film. Increasing the annealing temperature to 1373 K transforms the polycrystalline Pt film into single crystalline grains exhibiting a (111) orientation towards the substrate.

  2. Superhydrophobic photocatalytic PTFE – Titania coatings deposited by reactive pDC magnetron sputtering from a blended powder target

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ratova, Marina, E-mail: marina_ratova@hotmail.com; Kelly, Peter J.; West, Glen T.

    2017-04-01

    The production of photocatalytic coatings with superhydrophobic properties, as opposed to the conventional hydrophilic properties, is desirable for the prevention of adhesion of contaminants to photocatalytic surfaces with subsequent deterioration of photocatalytic properties. In this work polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) – TiO{sub 2} composite thin films were deposited using a novel method of reactive pulsed direct current (pDC) magnetron sputtering of a blended PTFE – titanium oxide powder target. The surface characteristics and photocatalytic properties of the deposited composite coatings were studied. The as-deposited coatings were annealed at 523 K in air and analysed with Raman spectroscopy, optical profilometry and scanning electron microscopy. Hydrophobicity was assessed though measurements of water contact angles, and photocatalytic properties were studied via methylene blue dye degradation under UV irradiation. It was found that variations of gas flow and, hence, process pressures allowed deposition of samples combining superhydrophobicity with stable photocatalytic efficiency under UV light irradiation. Reversible wettability behaviour was observed with the alternation of light-dark cycles. - Highlights: • PTFE-TiO{sub 2} coatings were deposited by pDC reactive magnetron sputtering. • Blended powder target was used for coatings deposition. • Deposited coatings combined superhydrophobic and photocatalytic properties. • Under UV irradiation coatings exhibited reversible wettability.

  3. Effect of N_2 flow rate on the microstructure and electrochemical behavior of TaN_x films deposited by modulated pulsed power magnetron sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mendizabal, L.; Bayón, R.; G-Berasategui, E.; Barriga, J.; Gonzalez, J.J.

    2016-01-01

    Modulated pulsed power magnetron sputtering (MPPMS) technology offers the possibility to grow high performance coatings compared to the ones developed by conventional dc magnetron sputtering. The high degree of ionization of sputtered particles developed during MPPMS can be usefully utilized to precisely tailor the properties of the growing films. One of the main advantages of such a high metal ion flux is related to the densification of the coatings due to enhance ion bombardment towards the growing film. The development of extremely dense and low-defect microstructure coatings can have a positive effect on the corrosion resistance of tantalum nitride (TaN_x) films. In this study, TaN_x thin films have been deposited by MPPMS in a closed field unbalanced magnetron sputtering system. Structure, surface morphology, hardness and corrosion resistance of the developed coatings have been analyzed as a function of different N_2-to-Ar ratios (0, 0.25, 0.625, 1). X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy analysis reveal high dependence of the grown crystal phases and the microstructure on N_2-to-Ar ratio. The hardness of the TaN_x coatings increases when increasing N_2-to-Ar ratio up to a maximum value of 25 GPa (N_2-to-Ar ratio of 0.625). The corrosion behavior was investigated using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and linear sweep voltammetry. EIS measurements registered at different immersion times show high impedance values (in the order of 10 MΩ cm"2) and corrosion resistance enhancement with time, indicating the formation of a passive protective oxide layer on the top of their surfaces. TaN_x film grown at 0.25 N_2-to-Ar ratio exhibits the highest corrosion resistance of 103.53 MΩ cm"2 and low porosity of 1.63 × 10"−"3 and is characterized by columnar-free microstructure. - Highlights: • TaN_X coatings deposited by MPPMS at different N_2-to-Ar ratios have been evaluated. • Columnar-free microstructure TaN_x films are obtained at 0

  4. Serial co-sputtering. Development of a versatile coating technology and its characterization using the example of rate enhancement of metal oxides by co-doping; Serielles Co-Sputtern. Entwicklung einer flexiblen Beschichtungstechnologie und deren Charakterisierung am Beispiel der Ratenerhoehung von Metalloxiden durch Co-Dotierung

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Austgen, Michael

    2011-09-19

    Focus of this work is the design and characterization of a versatile coating system based on magnetron sputter deposition. This technology consists of a rotary target (primary target) that will be sputtered at one position and also can be coated at a different position with a secondary material by another sputter process. This simultaneous operation and the serial order of two sputter processes is the serial co-sputter process. A highly elaborated gas separation allows the operation of the primary sputter process in a reactive gas atmosphere whereas the secondary process can be driven in a non-reactive atmosphere. Compared to conventional co-sputtering the gas separation enables a stable operation of the secondary sputter process even if reactive gas is added to the primary sputter process. To develop an understanding of the process dynamics of serial co-sputtering the rate enhancement of metal oxides by co-doping with heavy atoms has been investigated first. If heavy elements are added to the target material the collision cascades can be reflected back towards the target surface by a more efficient momentum transfer and therefore increase the sputtering rate. The addition of heavy atoms can be achieved by serial co-sputtering. In the secondary sputter process the heavy element will be sputter deposited onto the rotary target. When entering the erosion zone of the primary sputter process the heavy atoms will be partially sputtered away and partially recoil implanted beneath the target surface. The later will contribute to the sputter yield amplification effect described above. In this work the sputter yield amplification effect has been investigated for the metal oxides Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} and TiO{sub 2} by co-doping of a aluminum and titanium rotary target with the heavy element tungsten (Z=74) and bismuth (Z=83). The primary process variables are the O{sub 2}-gas flow which determines the working point of the primary sputtering process, the rotation speed of the

  5. Growth of Sr1-xNdxCuOy thin films by rf-magnetron sputtering and pulsed-laser deposition

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sugii, N.; Ichikawa, M.; Kuba, K.; Sakurai, T.; Iamamoto, K.; Yamauchi, H.

    1992-01-01

    This paper reports on Sr 1- x Nd x CuO y thin films grown on SrTiO 3 substrates by rf-magnetron sputtering and pulsed-laser deposition. The sputter-deposited film with x=0 has an infinite-layer structure whose lattice constants are: a=0.390 nm and c=0.347 nm. When x is larger than 0.1, the films contain a phase of the Sr 14 Cu 24 O 41 structure. The laser-deposited films of Sr 1- x Nd x CuO y with x ≥ 0.075 were single phase of the infinite-layer structure. The lattice parameter c decreased and the lattice parameter a increased, as the Nd content, x, increased. The films with x=0.10 and 0.125 exhibited superconducting onset temperatures around 26 K. Weak Meissner signals were observed for these films at temperatures below 30 K

  6. Effect of working pressure on corrosion behavior of nitrogen doped diamond-like carbon thin films deposited by DC magnetron sputtering.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Khun, N W; Liu, E

    2011-06-01

    Nitrogen doped diamond-like carbon thin films were deposited on highly conductive p-silicon(100) substrates using a DC magnetron sputtering deposition system by varying working pressure in the deposition chamber. The bonding structure, adhesion strength, surface roughness and corrosion behavior of the films were investigated by using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, micro-Raman spectroscopy, micro-scratch test, atomic force microscopy and potentiodynamic polarization test. A 0.6 M NaCl electrolytic solution was used for the corrosion tests. The optimum corrosion resistance of the films was found at a working pressure of 7 mTorr at which a good balance between the kinetics of the sputtered ions and the surface mobility of the adatoms promoted a microstructure of the films with fewer porosities.

  7. Optimizing electrical conductivity and optical transparency of IZO thin film deposited by radio frequency (RF) magnetron sputtering

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Lei

    Transparent conducting oxide (TCO) thin films of In2O3, SnO2, ZnO, and their mixtures have been extensively used in optoelectronic applications such as transparent electrodes in solar photovoltaic devices. In this project I deposited amorphous indium-zinc oxide (IZO) thin films by radio frequency (RF) magnetron sputtering from a In2O3-10 wt.% ZnO sintered ceramic target to optimize the RF power, argon gas flowing rate, and the thickness of film to reach the maximum conductivity and transparency in visible spectrum. The results indicated optimized conductivity and transparency of IZO thin film is closer to ITO's conductivity and transparency, and is even better when the film was deposited with one specific tilted angle. National Science Foundation (NSF) MRSEC program at University of Nebraska Lincoln, and was hosted by Professor Jeff Shields lab.

  8. Influence of Oxygen Concentration on the Performance of Ultra-Thin RF Magnetron Sputter Deposited Indium Tin Oxide Films as a Top Electrode for Photovoltaic Devices

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jephias Gwamuri

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available The opportunity for substantial efficiency enhancements of thin film hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H solar photovoltaic (PV cells using plasmonic absorbers requires ultra-thin transparent conducting oxide top electrodes with low resistivity and high transmittances in the visible range of the electromagnetic spectrum. Fabricating ultra-thin indium tin oxide (ITO films (sub-50 nm using conventional methods has presented a number of challenges; however, a novel method involving chemical shaving of thicker (greater than 80 nm RF sputter deposited high-quality ITO films has been demonstrated. This study investigates the effect of oxygen concentration on the etch rates of RF sputter deposited ITO films to provide a detailed understanding of the interaction of all critical experimental parameters to help create even thinner layers to allow for more finely tune plasmonic resonances. ITO films were deposited on silicon substrates with a 98-nm, thermally grown oxide using RF magnetron sputtering with oxygen concentrations of 0, 0.4 and 1.0 sccm and annealed at 300 °C air ambient. Then the films were etched using a combination of water and hydrochloric and nitric acids for 1, 3, 5 and 8 min at room temperature. In-between each etching process cycle, the films were characterized by X-ray diffraction, atomic force microscopy, Raman Spectroscopy, 4-point probe (electrical conductivity, and variable angle spectroscopic ellipsometry. All the films were polycrystalline in nature and highly oriented along the (222 reflection. Ultra-thin ITO films with record low resistivity values (as low as 5.83 × 10−4 Ω·cm were obtained and high optical transparency is exhibited in the 300–1000 nm wavelength region for all the ITO films. The etch rate, preferred crystal lattice growth plane, d-spacing and lattice distortion were also observed to be highly dependent on the nature of growth environment for RF sputter deposited ITO films. The structural, electrical

  9. Sputter deposition on gas diffusion electrodes of Pt-Au nanoclusters for methanol oxidation

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Giorgi, L.; Giorgi, R.; Gagliardi, S.; Serra, E. [ENEA Casaccia Research Center, Rome (Italy). Physics Technologies and New Materials; Alvisi, M.; Signore, M.A. [ENEA Brindisi Research Center, Brindisi (Italy). Physics Technologies and New Materials

    2008-07-01

    Polymer electrolyte fuel cells (PEFCs) are suited for use in commercial electrical vehicle and electric power applications. The gas diffusion electrodes of PEFCs are catalyzed by the deposition of platinum (Pt) nanoparticles on carbon powder. The particles must be localized on the electrode surface in order to achieve high electrocatalyst utilization. This study discussed a method of preparing PEFC electrodes using sputter deposition of a Pt-gold (Au) alloy nanoparticles on carbon powders. The method was designed to improve electrode performance and catalyst utilization. The nano-sized alloy clusters were deposited on a gas diffusion electrode at room temperature. The deposits were then characterized using field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) in order to examine the effect of the deposition technique on the nano-morphology and electrocatalytic performance of the electrode. Results of the study showed that the technique can be used in the large-scale manufacture of fuel cell electrodes. 3 refs., 1 fig.

  10. Advanced TiC/a-C: H nanocomposite coatings deposited by magnetron sputtering

    OpenAIRE

    Pei, Y.T.; Galvan, D.; Hosson, J.Th.M. De; Strondl, C.

    2006-01-01

    TiC/a-C:H nanocomposite coatings have been deposited by magnetron Sputtering. They consist of 2-5 nm TiC nanocrystallites embedded in the amorphous hydrocarbon (a-C:H) matrix. A transition from a Columnar to a glassy microstructure has been observed in the nanocomposite coatings with increasing substrate bias or carbon content. Micro-cracks induced by nanoindentation or wear tests readily propagate through the column boundaries whereas the coatings without a columnar inicrostructure exhibit s...

  11. Giant Negative Piezoresistive Effect in Diamond-like Carbon and Diamond-like Carbon-Based Nickel Nanocomposite Films Deposited by Reactive Magnetron Sputtering of Ni Target

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Meškinis, Šaru Nas; Gudaitis, Rimantas; Šlapikas, Kęstutis

    2018-01-01

    deposited by either reactive HIPIMS or dc magnetron sputtering of Ni target was explained by possible clustering of the sp2-bonded carbon and/or formation of areas with the decreased hydrogen content. It was suggested that the tensile stress-induced rearrangements of these conglomerations have resulted......Piezoresistive properties of hydrogenated diamond-like carbon (DLC) and DLC-based nickel nanocomposite (DLC:Ni) films were studied in the range of low concentration of nickel nanoparticles. The films were deposited by reactive high power pulsed magnetron sputtering (HIPIMS) of Ni target, and some...... samples were deposited by direct current (dc) reactive magnetron sputtering for comparison purposes. Raman scattering spectroscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometry (EDS), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) were used to study the structure and chemical composition of the films. A four...

  12. Influence of Continuous and Discontinuous Depositions on Properties of Ito Films Prepared by DC Magnetron Sputtering

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aiempanakit, K.; Rakkwamsuk, P.; Dumrongrattana, S.

    Indium tin oxide (ITO) films were deposited on glass substrate without external heating by DC magnetron sputtering with continuous deposition of 800 s (S1) and discontinuous depositions of 400 s × 2 times (S2), 200 s × 4 times (S3) and 100 s × 8 times (S4). The structural, surface morphology, optical transmittance and electrical resistivity of ITO films were measured by X-ray diffraction, atomic force microscope, spectrophotometer and four-point probe, respectively. The deposition process of the S1 condition shows the highest target voltage due to more target poisoning occurrence. The substrate temperature of the S1 condition increases with the saturation curve of the RC charging circuit while other conditions increase and decrease due to deposition steps as DC power turns on and off. Target voltage and substrate temperature of ITO films decrease when changing the deposition conditions from S1 to S2, S3 and S4, respectively. The preferential orientation of ITO films were changed from dominate (222) plane to (400) plane with the increasing number of deposition steps. The ITO film for the S4 condition shows the lowest electrical resistivity of 1.44 × 10-3 Ω·cm with the highest energy gap of 4.09 eV and the highest surface roughness of 3.43 nm. These results were discussed from the point of different oxygen occurring on the surface ITO target between the sputtering processes which affected the properties of ITO films.

  13. Amorphous indium tin oxide films deposited on flexible substrates by facing target sputtering at room temperature

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Xiao, Yu; Gao, Fangyuan; Dong, Guobo; Guo, Tingting; Liu, Qirong; Ye, Di; Diao, Xungang

    2014-01-01

    Indium tin oxide (ITO) thin films were deposited on polyethylene terephthalate substrates using a DC facing target sputtering (DC-FTS) system at room temperature. The sputtering conditions including oxygen partial pressure and discharge current were varied from 0% to 4% and 0.5 A to 1.3 A, respectively. X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy were used to study the structure and surface morphology of as-prepared films. All the films exhibited amorphous structures and smooth surfaces. The dependence of electrical and optical properties on various deposition parameters was investigated by a linear array four-point probe, Hall-effect measurements, and ultraviolet/visible spectrophotometry. A lowest sheet resistance of 17.4 Ω/square, a lowest resistivity of 3.61 × 10 −4 Ω cm, and an average relative transmittance over 88% in the visible range were obtained under the optimal deposition conditions. The relationship between the Hall mobility (μ) and carrier concentration (n) was interpreted by a functional relation of μ ∼ n −0.127 , which indicated that ionized donor scattering was the dominant electron scattering mechanism. It is also confirmed that the carrier concentration in ITO films prepared by the DC-FTS system is mainly controlled by the number of activated Sn donors rather than oxygen vacancies. - Highlights: • ITO thin films were grown on PET substrates by DC facing target sputtering system. • All the films were prepared at room temperature and exhibited amorphous structure. • Highly conductive and transparent ITO thin films were obtained. • The dominant ionized donor scattering mechanism was suggested

  14. Amorphous indium tin oxide films deposited on flexible substrates by facing target sputtering at room temperature

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Xiao, Yu [Solar Film Laboratory, School of Physics and Nuclear Energy Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing 100191 (China); Gao, Fangyuan, E-mail: gaofangyuan@buaa.edu.cn [Solar Film Laboratory, School of Physics and Nuclear Energy Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing 100191 (China); Dong, Guobo; Guo, Tingting; Liu, Qirong [Solar Film Laboratory, School of Physics and Nuclear Energy Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing 100191 (China); Ye, Di [Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100191 (China); Diao, Xungang [Solar Film Laboratory, School of Physics and Nuclear Energy Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing 100191 (China)

    2014-04-01

    Indium tin oxide (ITO) thin films were deposited on polyethylene terephthalate substrates using a DC facing target sputtering (DC-FTS) system at room temperature. The sputtering conditions including oxygen partial pressure and discharge current were varied from 0% to 4% and 0.5 A to 1.3 A, respectively. X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy were used to study the structure and surface morphology of as-prepared films. All the films exhibited amorphous structures and smooth surfaces. The dependence of electrical and optical properties on various deposition parameters was investigated by a linear array four-point probe, Hall-effect measurements, and ultraviolet/visible spectrophotometry. A lowest sheet resistance of 17.4 Ω/square, a lowest resistivity of 3.61 × 10{sup −4} Ω cm, and an average relative transmittance over 88% in the visible range were obtained under the optimal deposition conditions. The relationship between the Hall mobility (μ) and carrier concentration (n) was interpreted by a functional relation of μ ∼ n{sup −0.127}, which indicated that ionized donor scattering was the dominant electron scattering mechanism. It is also confirmed that the carrier concentration in ITO films prepared by the DC-FTS system is mainly controlled by the number of activated Sn donors rather than oxygen vacancies. - Highlights: • ITO thin films were grown on PET substrates by DC facing target sputtering system. • All the films were prepared at room temperature and exhibited amorphous structure. • Highly conductive and transparent ITO thin films were obtained. • The dominant ionized donor scattering mechanism was suggested.

  15. Sputter-Deposited Indium–Tin Oxide Thin Films for Acetaldehyde Gas Sensing

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Umut Cindemir

    2016-04-01

    Full Text Available Reactive dual-target DC magnetron sputtering was used to prepare In–Sn oxide thin films with a wide range of compositions. The films were subjected to annealing post-treatment at 400 °C or 500 °C for different periods of time. Compositional and structural characterizations were performed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, Rutherford backscattering and scanning electron microscopy. Films were investigated for gas sensing at 200 °C by measuring their resistance response upon exposure to acetaldehyde mixed with synthetic air. We found that the relative indium-to-tin content was very important and that measurable sensor responses could be recorded at acetaldehyde concentrations down to 200 ppb, with small resistance drift between repeated exposures, for both crystalline SnO2-like films and for amorphous films consisting of about equal amounts of In and Sn. We also demonstrated that it is not possible to prepare crystalline sensors with intermediate indium-to-tin compositions by sputter deposition and post-annealing up to 500 °C.

  16. Sputtering materials for VLSI and thin film devices

    CERN Document Server

    Sarkar, Jaydeep

    2010-01-01

    An important resource for students, engineers and researchers working in the area of thin film deposition using physical vapor deposition (e.g. sputtering) for semiconductor, liquid crystal displays, high density recording media and photovoltaic device (e.g. thin film solar cell) manufacturing. This book also reviews microelectronics industry topics such as history of inventions and technology trends, recent developments in sputtering technologies, manufacturing steps that require sputtering of thin films, the properties of thin films and the role of sputtering target performance on overall p

  17. Deposition of PZT thin film onto copper-coated polymer films by mean of pulsed-DC and RF-reactive sputtering

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Suchaneck, G.; Labitzke, R.; Adolphi, B.; Jastrabík, Lubomír; Adámek, Petr; Drahokoupil, Jan; Hubička, Zdeněk; Kiselev, D.A.; Kholkin, A. L.; Gerlach, G.; Dejneka, Alexandr

    2011-01-01

    Roč. 205, č. 2 (2011), S241-S244 ISSN 0257-8972 R&D Projects: GA ČR GC202/09/J017; GA AV ČR KAN301370701; GA MŠk(CZ) 1M06002 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z10100522 Keywords : pulsed DC reactive sputtering * RF reactive sputtering * complex oxide film deposition * polymer substrate Subject RIV: BH - Optics, Masers, Lasers Impact factor: 1.867, year: 2011

  18. Photocatalytic activity of bipolar pulsed magnetron sputter deposited TiO{sub 2}/TiWO{sub x} thin films

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Weng, Ko-Wei; Hu, Chung-Hsuan; Hua, Li-Yu; Lee, Chin-Tan [Department of Electronic Engineering, National Quemoy University, 1 Daxue Road, Jinning Township, Kinmen 89250, Taiwan, ROC (China); Zhao, Yu-Xiang [Department of Computer Science and Information Engineering, National Quemoy University, Taiwan, ROC (China); Chang, Julian; Yang, Shu-Yi [Department of Applied English, National Quemoy University, Taiwan, ROC (China); Han, Sheng, E-mail: shenghan@nutc.edu.tw [Center for General Education, National Taichung University of Science and Technology, 129 San-min Road, Section 3, Taichung 40401, Taiwan, ROC (China)

    2016-08-15

    Highlights: • TiO{sub 2}/TiWO{sub x} films were fabricated by a bipolar pulsed magnetron sputtering apparatus. • Titanium oxide being sputtered tungsten enhanced the highly oriented of TiO{sub 2} (1 0 1) plane of the specimen assemblies. • The mechanism WO{sub 3}(h{sup +}, e{sup −})/TiO{sub 2}(h{sup +}, e{sup −}) → WO{sub 3}(e{sup −})/TiO{sub 2}(h{sup +}) shows the higher hydrophilicity and lower contact angle. - Abstract: Titanium oxide films were formed by sputtering and then TiWO{sub x} films were deposited by bipolar pulsed magnetron sputtering with pure titanium and tungsten metal targets. The sputtering of titanium oxide with tungsten enhanced the orientation of the TiO{sub 2} (1 0 1) plane of the specimen assemblies. The main varying parameter was the tungsten pulse power. Titanium oxide sputtered with tungsten using a pulsing power of 50 W exhibited a superior hydrophilic property, and a contact angle of 13.1°. This fabrication conditions maximized the photocatalytic decomposition of methylene blue solution. The mechanism by which the titanium oxide was sputtered with tungsten involves the photogeneration of holes and electron traps, inhibiting the hole–electron recombination, enhancing hydrophilicity and reducing the contact angle.

  19. Sputtered molybdenum thin films and the application in CIGS solar cells

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Zhou, D.; Zhu, H., E-mail: hongbing1982@hotmail.com; Liang, X.; Zhang, C.; Li, Z.; Xu, Y.; Chen, J.; Zhang, L.; Mai, Y., E-mail: yaohuamai@hbu.edu.cn

    2016-01-30

    Graphical abstract: - Highlights: • Mo thin films are prepared by magnetron sputtering. • The dynamic deposition rate increases with the increasing discharge power. • The surface structure of Mo films varies with discharge power and working pressure. • High efficiency CIGS thin film solar cell of 15.2% has been obtained. - Abstract: Molybdenum (Mo) thin films are prepared by magnetron sputtering with different discharge powers and working pressures for the application in Cu(In, Ga)Se{sub 2} (CIGS) thin film solar cells as back electrodes. Properties of these Mo thin films are systematically investigated. It is found that the dynamic deposition rate increases with the increasing discharge power while decreases with the increasing working pressure. The highest dynamic deposition rate of 15.1 nm m/min is achieved for the Mo thin film deposited at the discharge power of 1200 W and at the working pressure of 0.15 Pa. The achieved lowest resistivity of 3.7 × 10{sup −5} Ω cm is attributed to the large grains in the compact thin film. The discharge power and working pressure have great influence on the sputtered Mo thin films. High efficiency of 12.5% was achieved for the Cu(In, Ga)Se{sub 2} (CIGS) thin film solar cells with Mo electrodes prepared at 1200 W and low working pressures. By further optimizing material and device properties, the conversion efficiency has reached to 15.2%.

  20. Influence of sputtering deposition parameters on electrical and optical properties of aluminium-doped zinc oxide thin films for photovoltaic applications

    Science.gov (United States)

    Krawczak, Ewelina; Agata, Zdyb; Gulkowski, Slawomir; Fave, Alain; Fourmond, Erwann

    2017-11-01

    Transparent Conductive Oxides (TCOs) characterized by high visible transmittance and low electrical resistivity play an important role in photovoltaic technology. Aluminum doped zinc oxide (AZO) is one of the TCOs that can find its application in thin film solar cells (CIGS or CdTe PV technology) as well as in other microelectronic applications. In this paper some optical and electrical properties of ZnO:Al thin films deposited by RF magnetron sputtering method have been investigated. AZO layers have been deposited on the soda lime glass substrates with use of variable technological parameters such as pressure in the deposition chamber, power applied and temperature during the process. The composition of AZO films has been investigated by EDS method. Thickness and refraction index of the deposited layers in dependence on certain technological parameters of sputtering process have been determined by spectroscopic ellipsometry. The measurements of transmittance and sheet resistance were also performed.

  1. Stability of sputter deposited ZnO:Cr films against acids

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shinoda, Makoto; Nishide, Toshikazu; Sawada, Yutaka; Hosaka, Masato; Matsumoto, Toshihiko.

    1993-01-01

    ZnO:Cr films were deposited on water-cooled soda-lime glass substrates at room temperature in an Ar atmosphere by rf magnetron sputtering of a ZnO target on which Cr chips were placed. The films exhibited extraordinary stability against acids such as HCl or HNO 3 , and also high resistivities similar to those of ZnO films. The addition of Cr suppressed the growth of ZnO grains which resulted in the formation of a dense film with a smooth surface. The stability and high resistivity displayed by the ZnO:Cr films can be attributed to the formation of a chromium-oxide-rich grain boundary. (author)

  2. Deposition and characterization of TaAIN thin films by reactive magnetron sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Oliveira, G.B.; Fernandez, D.R.; Fontes Junior, A.S.; Felix, L.C.; Tentardini, E.K.; Silva Junior, A.H. da

    2016-01-01

    Phase stability, oxidation resistance and great mechanical properties are the main objectives when synthesizing protective coatings. The tantalum nitride (TaN) has aroused interest because of its high temperature stability, chemical inertness and thermal conductivity. However, it has a low hardness value when compared to other coatings. Researches has shown that one way to improvements in the properties of a thin film is by adding other elements in the deposition process. Therefore, the objective of this study was to deposit thin films of TaAlN by magnetron sputtering, changing the aluminum concentration of 2, 5, 7, to 14%. Then the coatings were characterized by EDS, RBS, GIXRD and nanohardness. In this study was found that the aluminum deposited did not change the oxidation resistance of the coating, and the highest value of hardness was 28 GPa for the sample with 14 at.%. (author)

  3. High power pulsed magnetron sputtering of transparent conducting oxides

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sittinger, V.; Ruske, F.; Werner, W.; Jacobs, C.; Szyszka, B.; Christie, D.J.

    2008-01-01

    High power pulsed magnetron sputtering (HPPMS) has been used in order to study the deposition of transparent conducting oxides. We summarize the studies carried out on different materials (indium tin oxide-ITO and aluminium-doped zinc oxide-AZO) using rather different technological approaches, namely sputtering of ceramic targets and reactive sputtering. For the deposition of AZO reactive HPPMS for metallic targets has been used. A feedback control loop has been implemented in order to stabilize the discharge at any given setpoint on the hysteresis curve. The hysteresis was also found to have a rather untypical form. Reactive HPPMS was found to be a promising tool for obtaining high quality films of low total thickness. In the case of ITO deposition a ceramic target has been used. The process has been characterized in terms of its plasma emission and increasing indium ionization was found for higher peak power densities. The properties of the deposited films were compared to DC sputtered films. While for DC sputtering the choice of oxygen addition and shieldings is crucial for determining surface morphology and resistivity, in HPPMS sputtering peak power density has been found to be a good parameter for influencing the crystal structure. The morphologies obtained differ strongly from those seen in DC sputtering. At high power densities films with low surface roughness and excellent resistivity could be deposited without the use of shieldings

  4. Growth and surface morphology of ion-beam sputtered Ti-Ni thin films

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rao, Ambati Pulla; Sunandana, C.S.

    2008-01-01

    Titanium-nickel thin films have been deposited on float glass substrates by ion beam sputtering in 100% pure argon atmosphere. Sputtering is predominant at energy region of incident ions, 1000 eV to 100 keV. The as-deposited films were investigated by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and atomic force microscope (AFM). In this paper we attempted to study the surface morphology and elemental composition through AFM and XPS, respectively. Core level as well as valence band spectra of ion-beam sputtered Ti-Ni thin films at various Ar gas rates (5, 7 and 12 sccm) show that the thin film deposited at 3 sccm possess two distinct peaks at binding energies 458.55 eV and 464.36 eV mainly due to TiO 2 . Upon increasing Ar rate oxidation of Ti-Ni is reduced and the Ti-2p peaks begin approaching those of pure elemental Ti. Here Ti-2p peaks are observed at binding energy positions of 454.7 eV and 460.5 eV. AFM results show that the average grain size and roughness decrease, upon increasing Ar gas rate, from 2.90 μm to 0.096 μm and from 16.285 nm to 1.169 nm, respectively

  5. Sputtered gold-coated ITO nanowires by alternating depositions from Indium and ITO targets for application in surface-enhanced Raman scattering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Setti, Grazielle O.; Mamián-López, Mónica B.; Pessoa, Priscila R.; Poppi, Ronei J.; Joanni, Ednan; Jesus, Dosil P.

    2015-01-01

    Graphical abstract: - Highlights: • ITO nanowires were grown by the sputtering method using a new synthesis procedure. • By changing the deposition parameters the morphology and dimensions of the nanostructures were modified. • Seed layer thickness was an important factor for obtaining branched nanowires. • SERS substrates having good performance and a high application potential were produced. • The first Raman results for our substrates are already comparable to commercial substrates. - Abstract: Indium Tin oxide (ITO) nanowires were deposited by RF sputtering over oxidized silicon using ITO and Indium targets. The nanowires grew on the substrate with a catalyst layer of Indium by the vapor–liquid–solid (VLS) mechanism. Modifications in the deposition conditions affected the morphology and dimensions of the nanowires. The samples, after being covered with gold, were evaluated as surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) substrates for detection of dye solutions and very good intensifications of the Raman signal were obtained. The SERS performance of the samples was also compared to that of a commercial SERS substrate and the results achieved were similar. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time ITO nanowires were grown by the sputtering technique using oxide and metal targets

  6. Sputtered gold-coated ITO nanowires by alternating depositions from Indium and ITO targets for application in surface-enhanced Raman scattering

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Setti, Grazielle O. [Institute of Chemistry, University of Campinas, Campinas, P.O. Box 6154, 13083-970 Campinas, SP (Brazil); Renato Archer Information Technology Center, Rodovia Dom Pedro I (SP-65), Km 143,6 – Amarais, 13069-901 Campinas, SP (Brazil); Mamián-López, Mónica B.; Pessoa, Priscila R.; Poppi, Ronei J. [Institute of Chemistry, University of Campinas, Campinas, P.O. Box 6154, 13083-970 Campinas, SP (Brazil); Joanni, Ednan, E-mail: ednan.joanni@cti.gov.br [Renato Archer Information Technology Center, Rodovia Dom Pedro I (SP-65), Km 143,6 – Amarais, 13069-901 Campinas, SP (Brazil); Jesus, Dosil P. [Institute of Chemistry, University of Campinas, Campinas, P.O. Box 6154, 13083-970 Campinas, SP (Brazil)

    2015-08-30

    Graphical abstract: - Highlights: • ITO nanowires were grown by the sputtering method using a new synthesis procedure. • By changing the deposition parameters the morphology and dimensions of the nanostructures were modified. • Seed layer thickness was an important factor for obtaining branched nanowires. • SERS substrates having good performance and a high application potential were produced. • The first Raman results for our substrates are already comparable to commercial substrates. - Abstract: Indium Tin oxide (ITO) nanowires were deposited by RF sputtering over oxidized silicon using ITO and Indium targets. The nanowires grew on the substrate with a catalyst layer of Indium by the vapor–liquid–solid (VLS) mechanism. Modifications in the deposition conditions affected the morphology and dimensions of the nanowires. The samples, after being covered with gold, were evaluated as surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) substrates for detection of dye solutions and very good intensifications of the Raman signal were obtained. The SERS performance of the samples was also compared to that of a commercial SERS substrate and the results achieved were similar. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time ITO nanowires were grown by the sputtering technique using oxide and metal targets.

  7. Deposition of thin films by magnetron sputtering molybdenum in samples of pure copper; Deposicao de filmes finos de molibdenio por magnetron sputtering em amostra de cobre puro

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ferreira, N.M.; Almeida, E.O. de; Alves Junior, C. [Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, Campus Universitario Lagoa Nova, PPGCEM - Natal, RN (Brazil); Lourenco, J.M. [Instituto Federal de Educacao, Ciencias e Tecnologia do Rio Grande do Norte (IFRN), Natal, RN (Brazil)

    2010-07-01

    The deposition surface is a process of thermochemical treatment, which involves the deposition of a thin film usually about one to two microns on a metallic substrate, which constitutes one of the most important surface engineering techniques. The plasma deposition process with the configuration of magnetron sputtering it is removing material from a solid surface (target) through the impact of energetic particles from plasma. The aim of this study is to characterize the microstructure of the material under study using the techniques of optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. (author)

  8. Investigation of the drastic change in the sputter rate of polymers at low ion fluence

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zekonyte, J.; Zaporojtchenko, V.; Faupel, F.

    2005-01-01

    The polymer sputter rate dependence on ion fluence and ion chemistry (Ar, N 2 , O 2 ) at 1 keV energy was investigated using a quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) which allowed to do real time etch rate measurements and to study kinetics of sputtering. The obtained sputter rates differed drastically from polymer to polymer showing, that the chemical structure of polymer is an important factor in the polymer etch yield. A decrease in the sputter rate was observed up to ion fluence of 5 x 10 14 -5 x 10 15 cm -2 (depending on the polymer type and ion chemistry) followed by the saturation in the rate at prolonged ion bombardment. Polymer removal was accompanied by the formation of degradation products, cross-linking or branching, modification of the surface chemical structure, which was studied in situ using XPS. The dependence of the surface glass transition temperature, T gs on the ion fluence was studied using the method based on the embedding of metallic nanoparticles. The correlation between chemical yield data and ablation rate is discussed

  9. Thin TiO2 films deposited by implantation and sputtering in RF inductively coupled plasmas

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Valencia-Alvarado, R; López-Callejas, R; Barocio, S R; Mercado-Cabrera, A; Peña-Eguiluz, R; Muñoz-Castro, A E; Rodríguez-Méndez, B G; De la Piedad-Beneitez, A; De la Rosa-Vázquez, J M

    2012-01-01

    The achievement of titanium dioxide (TiO 2 ) thin films in the rutile crystalline phase is reported. The samples result from the implantation of oxygen ions of Ti in argon/oxygen plasma generated by inductively coupled RF at a commercial 13.56 MHz frequency. Simultaneously, a sputtering process is conducted on the titanium target in order to produce TiO 2 thin films in the anatase phase over silicon and glass substrates. Both implantation and sputtering processes shared the same 500 W plasma with the target, polarized between 0 and -3 kV. The substrates were placed between 2 and 3 cm from the target, this distance being found to be determinant of the TiO 2 deposition rate. The rutile phase in the target was obtained at temperatures in the order of 680 degrees C and the anatase (unbiased) one at about 300 degrees C without any auxiliary heating. The crystalline phases were characterized by x ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy. The morphology and average roughness were established by means of scanning electronic and atomic force microscopy, whereas the reaction products generated during the oxidation process were analyzed by mass spectrometry. Finally, the stoichiometric composition was measured by means of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy.

  10. Adhesion analysis for chromium nitride thin films deposited by reactive magnetron sputtering

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rusu, F. M.; Merie, V. V.; Pintea, I. M.; Molea, A.

    2016-08-01

    The thin film industry is continuously growing due to the wide range of applications that require the fabrication of advanced components such as sensors, biological implants, micro-electromechanical devices, optical coatings and so on. The selection regarding the deposition materials, as well as the deposition technology influences the properties of the material and determines the suitability of devices for certain real-world applications. This paper is focused on the adhesion force for several chromium nitride thin films obtained by reactive magnetron sputtering. All chromium nitride thin films were deposited on a silicon substrate, the discharge current and the argon flow being kept constant. The main purpose of the paper is to determine the influence of deposition parameters on the adhesion force. Therefore some of the deposition parameters were varied in order to study their effect on the adhesion force. Experimentally, the values of the adhesion force were determined in multiple points for each sample using the spectroscopy in point mode of the atomic force microscope. The obtained values were used to estimate the surface energy of the CrN thin films based on two existing mathematical models for the adhesion force when considering the contact between two bodies.

  11. Effects of sputtering power on properties of copper oxides thin films deposited on glass substrates

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ooi, P. K.; Ng, S. S.; Abdullah, M. J. [Nano-Optoelectronics Research and Technology Laboratory, School of Physics, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800 Penang (Malaysia)

    2015-04-24

    Copper oxides are deposited by radio frequency sputtering using copper target in the mixture of argon and oxygen gasses. The structural and optical properties of the copper oxides deposited at different sputtering powers have been investigated. All the films are single phase polycrystalline. At low RF power (100 W), the film is monoclinic structure of cupric oxide (CuO). Meanwhile, the films are cubic structure of cuprous oxide (Cu2O) at higher RF power. Field emission scanning electron microscopy images show the films have different morphologies with small grain size and consist of a lot of voids. The analysis of energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy shows that the ratio of Cu to O is increased as the RF power increased. From the ultraviolet–visible spectroscopy, the films have a broad absorption edge in the range of 300–500 nm. The band gap of the films grown at RF power of 100 W, and 120 W and above, were 1.18 eV and 2.16 eV, respectively.

  12. Influence of sputtering deposition parameters on electrical and optical properties of aluminium-doped zinc oxide thin films for photovoltaic applications

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Krawczak Ewelina

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Transparent Conductive Oxides (TCOs characterized by high visible transmittance and low electrical resistivity play an important role in photovoltaic technology. Aluminum doped zinc oxide (AZO is one of the TCOs that can find its application in thin film solar cells (CIGS or CdTe PV technology as well as in other microelectronic applications. In this paper some optical and electrical properties of ZnO:Al thin films deposited by RF magnetron sputtering method have been investigated. AZO layers have been deposited on the soda lime glass substrates with use of variable technological parameters such as pressure in the deposition chamber, power applied and temperature during the process. The composition of AZO films has been investigated by EDS method. Thickness and refraction index of the deposited layers in dependence on certain technological parameters of sputtering process have been determined by spectroscopic ellipsometry. The measurements of transmittance and sheet resistance were also performed.

  13. Indium oxide-based transparent conductive films deposited by reactive sputtering using alloy targets

    Science.gov (United States)

    Miyazaki, Yusuke; Maruyama, Eri; Jia, Junjun; Machinaga, Hironobu; Shigesato, Yuzo

    2017-04-01

    High-quality transparent conductive oxide (TCO) films, Sn-doped In2O3 (ITO) and In2O3-ZnO (IZO), were successfully deposited on either synthetic silica or polyethylene terephthalate (PET) substrates in the “transition region” by reactive dc magnetron sputtering using In-Zn and In-Sn alloy targets, respectively, with a specially designed plasma emission feedback system. The composition, crystallinity, surface morphology, and electrical and optical properties of the films were analyzed. All of the IZO films were amorphous, whereas the ITO films were polycrystalline over a wide range of deposition conditions. The minimum resistivities of the IZO and ITO films deposited on the heated PET substrates at 150 °C were 3.3 × 10-4 and 5.4 × 10-4 Ω·cm, respectively. By applying rf bias to unheated PET substrates, ITO films with a resistivity of 4.4 × 10-4 Ω·cm were deposited at a dc self-bias voltage of -60 V.

  14. Transparent conducting Al-doped ZnO thin films prepared by magnetron sputtering with dc and rf powers applied in combination

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Minami, Tadatsugu; Ohtani, Yuusuke; Miyata, Toshihiro; Kuboi, Takeshi

    2007-01-01

    A newly developed Al-doped ZnO (AZO) thin-film magnetron-sputtering deposition technique that decreases resistivity, improves resistivity distribution, and produces high-rate depositions has been demonstrated by dc magnetron-sputtering depositions that incorporate rf power (dc+rf-MS), either with or without the introduction of H 2 gas into the deposition chamber. The dc+rf-MS preparations were carried out in a pure Ar or an Ar+H 2 (0%-2%) gas atmosphere at a pressure of 0.4 Pa by adding a rf component (13.56 MHz) to a constant dc power of 80 W. The deposition rate in a dc+rf-MS deposition incorporating a rf power of 150 W was approximately 62 nm/min, an increase from the approximately 35 nm/min observed in dc magnetron sputtering with a dc power of 80 W. A resistivity as low as 3x10 -4 Ω cm and an improved resistivity distribution could be obtained in AZO thin films deposited on substrates at a low temperature of 150 deg. C by dc+rf-MS with the introduction of hydrogen gas with a content of 1.5%. This article describes the effects of adding a rf power component (i.e., dc+rf-MS deposition) as well as introducing H 2 gas into dc magnetron-sputtering preparations of transparent conducting AZO thin films

  15. Effects of target bias voltage on indium tin oxide films deposited by high target utilisation sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Calnan, Sonya; Upadhyaya, Hari M.; Dann, Sandra E.; Thwaites, Mike J.; Tiwari, Ayodhya N.

    2007-01-01

    Indium tin oxide (ITO) films were deposited by reactive High Target Utilisation Sputtering (HiTUS) onto glass and polyimide substrates. The ion plasma was generated by an RF power source while the target bias voltage was varied from 300 V to 500 V using a separate DC power supply. The deposition rate, at constant target power, increased with DC target voltage due to increased ion energy reaching 34 nm/min at 500 V. All the films were polycrystalline and showed strong (400) and (222) reflections with the relative strength of latter increasing with target bias voltage. The resistivity was lowest at 500 V with values of 1.8 x 10 -4 Ω cm and 2.4 x 10 -4 Ω cm on glass and polyimide, respectively but was still less than 5 x 10 -4 Ω cm at 400 V. All films were highly transparent to visible light, (> 80%) but the NIR transmittance decreased with increasing target voltage due to higher free carrier absorption. Therefore, ITO films can be deposited onto semiconductor layers such as in solar cells, with minimal ion damage while maintaining low resistivity

  16. Electrochromic properties of bipolar pulsed magnetron sputter deposited tungsten–molybdenum oxide films

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lin, Tai-Nan [Chemical Engineering Division, Institute of Nuclear Energy Research, Taoyuan 325, Taiwan, ROC (China); Lin, Yi Han; Lee, Chin Tan [Department of Electronic Engineering, National Quemoy University, Kinmen 892, Taiwan, ROC (China); Han, Sheng [Center of General Education, National Taichung Institute of Technology, Taichung 404, Taiwan, ROC (China); Weng, Ko-Wei, E-mail: kowei@nqu.edu.tw [Department of Electronic Engineering, National Quemoy University, Kinmen 892, Taiwan, ROC (China)

    2015-06-01

    There are great interests in electrochromic technology for smart windows and displays over past decades. In this study, the WMoO{sub x} thin films were deposited onto indium tin oxide glass and silicon substrates by pulsed magnetron sputter system with W and Mo targets. The films were deposited with fixed W target power while the variant parameter of Mo target power in the range 50, 100, 150 and 200 W was investigated. The working pressure was fixed at 1.33 Pa with a gas mixture of Ar (30 sccm) and O{sub 2} (15 sccm). The film thickness increased with the Mo target power. Higher plasma power resulted in a crystalline structure which would reduce the electrochromic property of the film. The influence of plasma powers applied to Mo target on the structural, optical and electrochromic properties of the WMoO{sub x} thin films has been investigated. WMoO{sub x} films grown at Mo target powers less than 100 W were found to be amorphous. The films deposited at 150 W, which is the optimal fabrication condition, exhibit better electrochromic properties with high optical modulation, high coloration efficiency and less color memory effect at wavelength 400, 550 and 800 nm. The improvement resulted from the effect of doping Mo has been tested. The maximum ΔT (%) values are 36.6% at 400 nm, 65.6% at 550 nm, and 66.6% at 800 nm for pure WO{sub 3} film. The addition of Mo content in the WMoO{sub x} films provides better resistance to the short wavelength light source and can be used in the concerned application. - Highlights: • WMoO{sub x} films are deposited by pulsed magnetron sputter with pure W and Mo targets. • Mo addition in WMoO{sub x} provides better resistance to short wavelength light source. • WMoO{sub x} films exhibit electrochemical stability in the cycling test.

  17. Hard coatings on magnesium alloys by sputter deposition using a pulsed d.c. bias voltage

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Reiners, G. [Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung, Berlin (Germany); Griepentrog, M. [Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung, Berlin (Germany)

    1995-12-01

    An increasing use of magnesium-based light-metal alloys for various industrial applications was predicted in different technological studies. Companies in different branches have developed machine parts made of magnesium alloys (e.g. cars, car engines, sewing and knitting machines). Hence, this work was started to evaluate the ability of hard coatings obtained by physical vapour deposition (PVD) in combination with coatings obtained by electrochemical deposition to protect magnesium alloys against wear and corrosion. TiN hard coatings were deposited onto magnesium alloys by unbalanced magnetron sputter deposition. A bipolar pulsed d.c. bias voltage was used to limit substrate temperatures to 180 C during deposition without considerable loss of microhardness and adhesion. Adhesion, hardness and load-carrying capacity of TiN coatings deposited directly onto magnesium alloys are compared with the corresponding values of TiN coatings deposited onto substrates which had been coated electroless with an Ni-P alloy interlayer prior to the PVD. (orig.)

  18. Arc generation from sputtering plasma-dielectric inclusion interactions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wickersham, C.E. Jr.; Poole, J.E.; Fan, J.S.

    2002-01-01

    Arcing during sputter deposition and etching is a significant cause of particle defect generation during device fabrication. In this article we report on the effect of aluminum oxide inclusion size, shape, and orientation on the propensity for arcing during sputtering of aluminum targets. The size, shape, and orientation of a dielectric inclusion plays a major role in determining the propensity for arcing and macroparticle emission. In previous studies we found that there is a critical inclusion size required for arcing to occur. In this article we used high-speed videos, electric arc detection, and measurements of particle defect density on wafers to study the effect of Al 2 O 3 inclusion size, shape, and orientation on arc rate, intensity, and silicon wafer particle defect density. We found that the cross-sectional area of the inclusion exposed to the sputtering plasma is the critical parameter that determines the arc rate and rate of macroparticle emission. Analysis of the arc rate, particle defect density, and the intensity of the optical emission from the arcing plasma indicates that the critical aluminum oxide inclusion area for arcing is 0.22±0.1 mm2 when the sputtering plasma sheath dark-space λ d , is 0.51 mm. Inclusions with areas greater than this critical value readily induce arcing and macroparticle ejection during sputtering. Inclusions below this critical size do not cause arcing or macroparticle ejection. When the inclusion major axis is longer than 2λ d and lies perpendicular to the sputter erosion track tangent, the arcing activity increases significantly over the case where the inclusion major axis lies parallel to the erosion track tangent

  19. Optimal series-parallel connection method of dye-sensitized solar cell for Pt thin film deposition using a radio frequency sputter system

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Choi, Jin-Young; Hong, Ji-Tae; Seo, Hyunwoong; Kim, Mijeong; Son, Min-Kyu; Lee, Kyoung-Jun [Department of Electrical Engineering, Pusan National University Jangjeon-dong, Geumjeong-gu, Busan 609-735 (Korea, Republic of); Lee, Dong-Yoon [Advanced Materials and Application research Laboratory, Korea Electrotechnology Research Institute, 28-1, Seongju-dong, Changwon-city, Kyongnam, 641-120 (Korea, Republic of); Kim, Hee-Je [Department of Electrical Engineering, Pusan National University Jangjeon-dong, Geumjeong-gu, Busan 609-735 (Korea, Republic of)], E-mail: heeje@pusan.ac.kr

    2008-11-28

    The counter electrode widely used in DSC (Dye-sensitized solar cells) is constructed of a conducting glass substrate coated with a Pt film, in which the platinum acts as a catalyst. The characteristics of the platinum electrode depend strongly on the fabrication process and the electrode's surface condition. In this study, Pt counter electrodes were deposited by radio frequency (RF) sputtering with 6.7 x 10{sup -1} Pa Ar, RF power of 120 W and substrate temperature of 100 deg. C . The surface morphology of Pt electrodes was investigated using field emission scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy. Comparison of samples prepared by RF sputtering and RF magnetron sputtering showed that the surface of the RF sputter deposited electrode had a larger surface area resulting in more effective catalytic characteristics. Finally, an open voltage of 4.8 V, a short circuit current of 569 mA and a photoelectric conversion efficiency of approximately 3.6% were achieved for cells composed of 30 DSC units of 6 cm x 4 cm DSC units with 6 cells in series and 5 cells in parallel.

  20. Experimental investigation on photoelectric properties of ZAO thin film deposited on flexible substrate by magnetron sputtering

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hao, Ming [School of Mechanical Engineering and Automation, Northeastern University, 3-11 WenHua Rd., 319#, Shenyang, 110004 (China); Liu, Kun, E-mail: kliu@mail.neu.edu.cn [School of Mechanical Engineering and Automation, Northeastern University, 3-11 WenHua Rd., 319#, Shenyang, 110004 (China); Liu, Xinghua [Hubei Aerospace Industry Technology Academe Special Vehicle Technology Center, Wuhan (China); Wang, Dongyang; Ba, Dechun; Xie, Yuanhua; Du, Guangyu; Ba, Yaoshuai [School of Mechanical Engineering and Automation, Northeastern University, 3-11 WenHua Rd., 319#, Shenyang, 110004 (China)

    2016-12-01

    Highlights: • ZAO thin films were deposited on PET substrate. • A set of experimental parameters were systematically investigated. • Change rule of film photoelectric properties was obtained. • ZAO films with optimal properties were obtained at our working conditions. - Abstract: Transparent conductive ZAO (Zinc Aluminum Oxide) films on flexible substrates have a great potential for low-cost mass-production solar cells. ZAO thin films were achieved on flexible PET (polyethylene terephthalate) substrates by RF magnetron sputtering technology. The surface morphology and element content, the transmittance and the sheet resistance of the films were measured to determine the optical process parameters. The results show that the ZAO thin film shows the best parameters in terms of photoelectric performance including sputtering power, working pressure, sputtering time, substrate temperature (100 W, 1.5 Pa, 60 min, 125 °C). The sheet resistance of 510 Ω and transmittance in visible region of 92% were obtained after characterization. Surface morphology was uniform and compact with a good crystal grain.

  1. Experimental investigation on photoelectric properties of ZAO thin film deposited on flexible substrate by magnetron sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hao, Ming; Liu, Kun; Liu, Xinghua; Wang, Dongyang; Ba, Dechun; Xie, Yuanhua; Du, Guangyu; Ba, Yaoshuai

    2016-01-01

    Highlights: • ZAO thin films were deposited on PET substrate. • A set of experimental parameters were systematically investigated. • Change rule of film photoelectric properties was obtained. • ZAO films with optimal properties were obtained at our working conditions. - Abstract: Transparent conductive ZAO (Zinc Aluminum Oxide) films on flexible substrates have a great potential for low-cost mass-production solar cells. ZAO thin films were achieved on flexible PET (polyethylene terephthalate) substrates by RF magnetron sputtering technology. The surface morphology and element content, the transmittance and the sheet resistance of the films were measured to determine the optical process parameters. The results show that the ZAO thin film shows the best parameters in terms of photoelectric performance including sputtering power, working pressure, sputtering time, substrate temperature (100 W, 1.5 Pa, 60 min, 125 °C). The sheet resistance of 510 Ω and transmittance in visible region of 92% were obtained after characterization. Surface morphology was uniform and compact with a good crystal grain.

  2. RF magnetron-sputtered coatings deposited from biphasic calcium phosphate targets for biomedical implant applications

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    K.A. Prosolov

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available Bioactive calcium phosphate coatings were deposited by radio-frequency magnetron sputtering from biphasic targets of hydroxyapatite and tricalcium phosphate, sintered at different mass % ratios. According to Raman scattering and X-ray diffraction data, the deposited hydroxyapatite coatings have a disordered structure. High-temperature treatment of the coatings in air leads to a transformation of the quasi-amorphous structure into a crystalline one. A correlation has been observed between the increase in the Ca content in the coatings and a subsequent decrease in Ca in the biphasic targets after a series of deposition processes. It was proposed that the addition of tricalcium phosphate to the targets would led to a finer coating's surface topography with the average size of 78 nm for the structural elements.

  3. Deposition of Cu-doped PbS thin films with low resistivity using DC sputtering

    Science.gov (United States)

    Soetedjo, Hariyadi; Siswanto, Bambang; Aziz, Ihwanul; Sudjatmoko

    2018-03-01

    Investigation of the electrical resistivity of Cu-doped PbS thin films has been carried out. The films were prepared using a DC sputtering technique. The doping was achieved by introducing the Cu dopant plate material directly on the surface of the PbS sputtering target plate. SEM-EDX data shows the Cu concentration in the PbS film to be proportional to the Cu plate diameter. The XRD pattern indicates the film is in crystalline cubic form. The Hall effect measurement shows that Cu doping yields an increase in the carrier concentration to 3.55 × 1019 cm-3 and a significant decrease in electrical resistivity. The lowest resistivity obtained was 0.13 Ωcm for a Cu concentration of 18.5%. Preferential orientation of (1 1 1) and (2 0 0) occurs during deposition.

  4. Alloying process of sputter-deposited Ti/Ni multilayer thin films

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cho, H.; Kim, H.Y.; Miyazaki, S.

    2006-01-01

    Alloying process of a Ti/Ni multilayer thin film was investigated in detail by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), X-ray diffractometry (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The Ti/Ni multilayer thin film was prepared by depositing Ti and Ni layers alternately on a SiO 2 /Si substrate. The number of each metal layer was 100, and the total thickness was 3 μm. The alloy composition was determined as Ti-51 at.%Ni by electron probe micro analysis (EPMA). The DSC curve exhibited three exothermic peaks at 621, 680 and 701 K during heating the as-sputtered multilayer thin film. In order to investigate the alloying process, XRD and TEM observation was carried out for the specimens heated up to various temperatures with the heating rate same as the DSC measurement. The XRD profile of the as-sputtered film revealed only diffraction peaks of Ti and Ni. But reaction layers of 3 nm in thickness were observed at the interfaces of Ti and Ni layers in cross-sectional TEM images. The reaction layer was confirmed as an amorphous phase by the nano beam diffraction analysis. The XRD profiles exhibited that the intensity of Ti diffraction peak decreased in the specimen heat-treated above 600 K. The peak from Ni became broad and shifted to lower diffraction angle. The amorphous layer thickened up to 6 nm in the specimen heated up to 640 K. The diffraction peak corresponding to Ti-Ni B2 phase appeared and the peak from Ni disappeared for the specimen heated up to 675 K. The Ti-Ni B2 crystallized from the amorphous reaction layer. After further heating above the third exothermic peak, the intensity of the peak from the Ti-Ni B2 phase increased, the peak from Ti disappeared and the peaks corresponding to Ti 2 Ni appeared. The Ti 2 Ni phase was formed by the reaction of the Ti-Ni B2 and Ti

  5. Ionized physical vapor deposition (IPVD): A review of technology and applications

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Helmersson, Ulf; Lattemann, Martina; Bohlmark, Johan; Ehiasarian, Arutiun P.; Gudmundsson, Jon Tomas

    2006-01-01

    In plasma-based deposition processing, the importance of low-energy ion bombardment during thin film growth can hardly be exaggerated. Ion bombardment is an important physical tool available to materials scientists in the design of new materials and new structures. Glow discharges and in particular, the magnetron sputtering discharge have the advantage that the ions of the discharge are abundantly available to the deposition process. However, the ion chemistry is usually dominated by the ions of the inert sputtering gas while ions of the sputtered material are rare. Over the last few years, various ionized sputtering techniques have appeared that can achieve a high degree of ionization of the sputtered atoms, often up to 50% but in some cases as much as approximately 90%. This opens a complete new perspective in the engineering and design of new thin film materials. The development and application of magnetron sputtering systems for ionized physical vapor deposition (IPVD) is reviewed. The application of a secondary discharge, inductively coupled plasma magnetron sputtering (ICP-MS) and microwave amplified magnetron sputtering, is discussed as well as the high power impulse magnetron sputtering (HIPIMS), the self-sustained sputtering (SSS) magnetron, and the hollow cathode magnetron (HCM) sputtering discharges. Furthermore, filtered arc-deposition is discussed due to its importance as an IPVD technique. Examples of the importance of the IPVD-techniques for growth of thin films with improved adhesion, improved microstructures, improved coverage of complex shaped substrates, and increased reactivity with higher deposition rate in reactive processes are reviewed

  6. Resistance changes of Pr0.7Ca0.3MnO3 films deposited through rf-magnetron sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lee, Kwangseok; Han, Seungwoo; Park, Kyoungwan; Sok, Junghyun

    2006-01-01

    In this paper, the resistance-change behavior of a perovskite material was studied. In particular, Pr 0.7 Ca 0.3 MnO 3 (PCMO) films were deposited on a Pt bottom electrode by using an rf-magnetron sputtering system. The PCMO films showed a resistance-switching behavior at room temperature. They were then deposited at 300 .deg. C with different oxygen flow rates, and the deposited films were post-annealed at various temperatures in an O 2 or N 2 atmosphere. The ratio of the resistance change of the post-annealed PCMO films in the high-resistance state to that in the low-resistance state in an O 2 atmosphere turned out to be much larger than that of the post-annealed films in a N 2 atmosphere. The electrical properties of the PCMO films were also significantly affected by the top electrode. The resistance changes of the Ag/PCMO/Pt device turned out to be larger than those of the Au/PCMO/Pt device. It can, therefore, be concluded that the O 2 content and the top electrode improve the electroresistance.

  7. Comprehensive perspective on the mechanism of preferred orientation in reactive-sputter-deposited nitrides

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kajikawa, Yuya; Noda, Suguru; Komiyama, Hiroshi

    2003-01-01

    Texture control of sputter-deposited nitride films has provoked a great deal of interest due to its technological importance. Despite extensive research, however, the reported results are scattered and discussions about the origin of preferred orientation (PO) are sometimes conflicting, and therefore controversial. The aim of this study is to acquire a clear perspective in order to discuss the origin of PO of sputter-deposited nitrides. Among nitrides, we focus on titanium nitride (TiN), aluminum nitride (AlN), and tantalum nitride (TaN), which are three commonly used nitrides. First, we collected reported experimental results about the relation between operating conditions and PO, because PO is considered to be determined by film formation processes, such as surface diffusion or grain growth, which is affected by operating conditions. We also collected reported results about such PO-determining processes. Then, we categorized the PO-determining processes into an initial stage and a growth stage of film deposition, and further categorized each stage into a vapor-solid interface and a solid-solid interface. Then, we related each stage and interface to film morphology and to PO-determining processes. Finally, based on existing results, previous models, and proposed schema, we discuss the origin of PO. Based on previous experimental results on film morphology, PO of nitride films occurred in the growth stage at the vapor-solid interface, where the sticking process of the precursor and the surface diffusion process determine PO, rather than in the initial stage and in the growth stage at the solid-solid interface. TiN (002) PO, however, seems to be caused in the initial stage at the solid-solid interface

  8. Coating material innovation in conjunction with optimized deposition technologies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Stolze, M.; Leitner, K.

    2009-01-01

    Concentrating on physical vapour deposition methods several examples of recently developed coating materials for optical applications were studied for film deposition with optimized coating technologies: mixed evaporation materials for ion assisted deposition with modern plasma ion sources, planar metal and oxide sputter targets for Direct Current (DC) and Mid-Frequency (MF) pulsed sputter deposition and planar and rotatable sputter targets of transparent conductive oxides (TCO) for large-area sputter deposition. Films from specially designed titania based mixed evaporation materials deposited with new plasma ion sources and possible operation with pure oxygen showed extended ranges of the ratio between refractive index and structural film stress, hence there is an increased potential for the reduction of the total coating stress in High-Low alternating stacks and for coating plastics. DC and MF-pulsed sputtering of niobium metal and suboxide targets for optical coatings yielded essential benefits of the suboxide targets in a range of practical coating conditions (for absent in-situ post-oxidation ability): higher refractive index and deposition rate, better reproducibility and easier process control, and the potential for co-deposition of several targets. Technological progress in the manufacture of rotatable indium tin oxide (ITO) targets with regard to higher wall-thickness and density was shown to be reflected in higher material stock and coater up-time, economical deposition rates and stable process behaviour. Both for the rotatable ITO targets and higher-dense aluminum-doped zinc oxide (AZO) planar targets values of film transmittance and resistivity were in the range of the best values industrially achieved for films from the respective planar targets. The results for the rotatable ITO and planar AZO targets point to equally optimized process and film properties for the optimized rotatable AZO targets currently in testing

  9. Changes in the structural and electrical properties of vacuum post-annealed tungsten- and titanium-doped indium oxide films deposited by radio frequency magnetron sputtering

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Yan, L.T.; Schropp, R.E.I.

    2011-01-01

    Tungsten- and titanium-doped indium oxide (IWO and ITiO) filmswere deposited at room temperature by radio frequency (RF) magnetron sputtering, and vacuum post-annealing was used to improve the electron mobility. With increasing deposition power, the as deposited films showed an increasingly

  10. Laser damage resistance of hafnia thin films deposited by electron beam deposition, reactive low voltage ion plating, and dual ion beam sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gallais, Laurent; Capoulade, Jeremie; Natoli, Jean-Yves; Commandre, Mireille; Cathelinaud, Michel; Koc, Cian; Lequime, Michel

    2008-01-01

    A comparative study is made of the laser damage resistance of hafnia coatings deposited on fused silica substrates with different technologies: electron beam deposition (from Hf or HfO2 starting material), reactive low voltage ion plating, and dual ion beam sputtering.The laser damage thresholds of these coatings are determined at 1064 and 355 nm using a nanosecond pulsed YAG laser and a one-on-one test procedure. The results are associated with a complete characterization of the samples: refractive index n measured by spectrophotometry, extinction coefficient k measured by photothermal deflection, and roughness measured by atomic force microscopy

  11. Critical parameters in the sputter-deposition of NdBa{sub 2}Cu{sub 3}O{sub 7-{delta}} thin films

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hakuraku, Y.; Yokoyama, N.; Doi, T.; Inoue, T. [Faculty of Engineering, Kagoshima University, Koorimoto, Kagoshima 890, (Japan); Mori, Z.; Koba, S. [Yatsushiro National College of Technology, Yatsushiro 866 (Japan)

    1999-08-01

    A superconducting thin film of NdBa{sub 2}Cu{sub 3}O{sub 7-{delta}} (NBCO) was prepared on an MgO(100) substrate by dc magnetron sputtering. Superconducting properties as well as features such as resistivity at room temperature and surface morphology were improved by optimizing the composition of sputtering target and critical parameters such as substrate temperature and oxidation gas pressure. A highly c-axis oriented thin film with T{sub c} (zero resistance temperature) = 95.2 K was obtained reproducibly with NdBa{sub 2}Cu{sub 3.2}O{sub 7-{delta}} off-stoichiometric target sputtering. T{sub c} = 95.2 K was 8 K higher than that deposited by stoichiometric target sputtering. Critical current density was 1x10{sup 6} A cm{sup -2} at 77 K, and surface roughness was 35 nm. (author)

  12. Characterization and device applications of ZnO films deposited by high power impulse magnetron sputtering (HiPIMS)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Partridge, J. G.; Mayes, E. L. H.; McDougall, N. L.; Bilek, M. M. M.; McCulloch, D. G.

    2013-04-01

    ZnO films have been reactively deposited on sapphire substrates at 300 °C using a high impulse power magnetron sputtering deposition system and characterized structurally, optically and electronically. The unintentionally doped n-type ZnO films exhibit high transparency, moderate carrier concentration (˜5 × 1018 cm-3) and a Hall mobility of 8.0 cm2 V-1 s-1, making them suitable for electronic device applications. Pt/ZnO Schottky diodes formed on the HiPIMS deposited ZnO exhibited rectification ratios up to 104 at ±2 V and sensitivity to UV light.

  13. Sputtered gold-coated ITO nanowires by alternating depositions from Indium and ITO targets for application in surface-enhanced Raman scattering

    Science.gov (United States)

    Setti, Grazielle O.; Mamián-López, Mónica B.; Pessoa, Priscila R.; Poppi, Ronei J.; Joanni, Ednan; Jesus, Dosil P.

    2015-08-01

    Indium Tin oxide (ITO) nanowires were deposited by RF sputtering over oxidized silicon using ITO and Indium targets. The nanowires grew on the substrate with a catalyst layer of Indium by the vapor-liquid-solid (VLS) mechanism. Modifications in the deposition conditions affected the morphology and dimensions of the nanowires. The samples, after being covered with gold, were evaluated as surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) substrates for detection of dye solutions and very good intensifications of the Raman signal were obtained. The SERS performance of the samples was also compared to that of a commercial SERS substrate and the results achieved were similar. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time ITO nanowires were grown by the sputtering technique using oxide and metal targets.

  14. Fabrication of highly oriented β-FeSi2 by ion beam sputter deposition

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nakanoya, Takamitsu; Sasase, Masato; Yamamoto, Hiroyuki; Saito, Takeru; Hojou, Kiichi

    2002-01-01

    We have prepared the 'environmentally friendly' semiconductor, β-FeSi 2 thin films by ion beam sputter deposition method. The temperature of Si (100) substrate during the deposition and total amount of deposited Fe have been changed in order to find the optimum condition of the film formation. The crystallinity and surface morphology of the formed silicides were analyzed by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscope (SEM), respectively. It is understood that the domain of the epitaxially grown β-FeSi 2 increases with the substrate temperature up to 700degC at the fixed amount of deposited Fe (33 nm) by XRD spectra. On the other hand, α-FeSi 2 is appeared and increased with the temperature above 700degC. Granulation of the surface is also observed by SEM images at this temperature region. At the fixed temperature condition (700degC), formation of α phase, which is obtained at the higher temperature compared with β phase, is observed for the fewer deposited samples. These results suggest the possibility of the epitaxially grown β-FeSi 2 formation at the lower (< 700degC) temperature region. (author)

  15. Evaluation of residual stress in sputtered tantalum thin-film

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Al-masha’al, Asa’ad, E-mail: asaad.al@ed.ac.uk; Bunting, Andrew; Cheung, Rebecca

    2016-05-15

    Highlights: • Tantalum thin-films have been deposited by DC magnetron sputtering system. • Thin-film stress is observed to be strongly influenced by sputtering pressure. • Transition towards the compressive stress is ascribed to the annealing at 300 °C. • Expose thin-film to air ambient or ion bombardment lead to a noticeable change in the residual stress. - Abstract: The influence of deposition conditions on the residual stress of sputtered tantalum thin-film has been evaluated in the present study. Films have been deposited by DC magnetron sputtering and curvature measurement method has been employed to calculate the residual stress of the films. Transitions of tantalum film stress from compressive to tensile state have been observed as the sputtering pressure increases. Also, the effect of annealing process at temperature range of 90–300 °C in oxygen ambient on the residual stress of the films has been studied. The results demonstrate that the residual stress of the films that have been deposited at lower sputtering pressure has become more compressive when annealed at 300 °C. Furthermore, the impact of exposure to atmospheric ambient on the tantalum film stress has been investigated by monitoring the variation of the residual stress of both annealed and unannealed films over time. The as-deposited films have been exposed to pure Argon energy bombardment and as result, a high compressive stress has been developed in the films.

  16. Annealing effects on the ferromagnetic resonance linewidths of sputter-deposited Fe100−xCox(001) thin films (x < 11)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kusaoka, A.; Kimura, J.; Takahashi, Y.; Inaba, N.; Kirino, F.; Ohtake, M.; Futamoto, M.

    2015-01-01

    Effects of post-growth annealing on the magnetic damping of 3d transition alloy thin films were investigated. Fe 100−x Co x (x < 11 at. %) thin films were epitaxially deposited on GaAs(001) substrates by rf magnetron sputtering, and some of them were annealed without exposing to atmosphere. Electrical measurement showed that in-plane resistivity was smaller in the annealed films than in the as-deposited ones, indicating that the annealing mitigates crystalline imperfections and leads to reduced electron scattering rates. Magnetic damping was evaluated by the peak widths of ferromagnetic resonance (FMR) spectra obtained by a conventional Q-band spectrometer. Comparison of as-deposited and annealed specimens showed that the damping was decreased by annealing. Combined with the electrical and FMR measurements, these observations are consistent with the theoretical predictions that crystalline imperfections strongly influence the magnetic damping, both in intrinsic and extrinsic origins

  17. On niobium sputter coated cavities

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Arnolds-Mayer, G.; Kaufmann, U.; Downar, H.

    1988-01-01

    To coat copper cavities with a thin film of niobium, facilities for electropolishing and sputter deposition have been installed at Dornier. Experiments have been performed on samples to optimize electropolishing and deposition parameters. In this paper, characteristics concerning surface properties, adhesion of the niobium film to the copper substrate, and film properties were studied on planar samples. A 1.5 GHz single cell cavity made from oxygen free high conductivity (OFHC) copper was sputter coated twice. First rf measurements were performed in the temperature range from 300 K to 2 K

  18. Sputter Deposited TiOx Thin-Films as Electron Transport Layers in Organic Solar Cells

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Mirsafaei, Mina; Bomholt Jensen, Pia; Lakhotiya, Harish

    transparency and favorable energy-level alignment with many commonly used electron-acceptor materials. There are several methods available for fabricating compact TiOx thin-films for use in organic solar cells, including sol-gel solution processing, spray pyrolysis and atomic-layer deposition; however...... of around 7%, by incorporating sputter deposited TiOx thin-films as electron-transport and exciton-blocking layers. In the work, we report on the effect of different TiOx deposition temperatures and thicknesses on the organic-solar-cell device performance. Besides optical characterization, AFM and XRD...... analyses are performed to characterize the morphology and crystal structure of the films, and external quantum efficiency measurements are employed to shed further light on the device performance. Our study presents a novel method for implementation of TiOx thin-films as electron-transport layer in organic...

  19. Chemical mechanical polishing characteristics of ITO thin film prepared by RF magnetron sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lee, Kang-Yeon; Choi, Gwon-Woo; Kim, Yong-Jae; Choi, Youn-Ok; Kim, Nam-Oh

    2012-01-01

    Indium-tin-oxide (ITO) thin films have attracted intensive interest because of their unique properties of good conductivity, high optical transmittance over the visible region and easy patterning ability. ITO thin films have found many applications in anti-static coatings, thermal heaters, solar cells, flat panel displays (FPDs), liquid crystal displays (LCDs), electroluminescent devices, sensors and organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs). ITO thin films are generally fabricated by using various methods, such as spraying, chemical vapor deposition (CVD), evaporation, electron gun deposition, direct current electroplating, high frequency sputtering, and reactive sputtering. In this research, ITO films were grown on glass substrates by using a radio-frequency (RF) magnetron sputtering method. In order to achieve a high transmittance and a low resistivity, we examined the various film deposition conditions, such as substrate temperature, working pressure, annealing temperature, and deposition time. Next, in order to improve the surface quality of the ITO thin films, we performed a chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) with different process parameters and compared the electrical and the optical properties of the polished ITO thin films. The best CMP conditions with a high removal rate, low nonuniformity, low resistivity and high transmittance were as follows: platen speed, head speed, polishing time, and slurry flow rate of 30 rpm, 30 rpm, 60 sec, and 60 ml/min, respectively.

  20. Anodisation of sputter deposited aluminium–titanium coatings: Effect of microstructure on optical characteristics

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Aggerbeck, Martin; Junker-Holst, Andreas; Vestergaard Nielsen, Daniel

    2014-01-01

    Magnetron sputtered coatings of aluminium containing up to 18 wt.% titanium were deposited on aluminium substrates to study the effect of microstructure on the optical appearance of the anodised layer. The microstructure and morphology were studied using transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X......-ray diffraction (XRD), and glow discharge optical emission spectroscopy (GDOES), while the optical appearance was investigated using photospectrometry. The microstructure of the coatings was varied by heat treatment, resulting in the precipitation of Al3Ti phases. The reflectance of the anodised surfaces...

  1. Non-conventional photocathodes based on Cu thin films deposited on Y substrate by sputtering

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Perrone, A. [Department of Mathematics and Physics “E. De Giorgi”, University of Salento, 73100 Lecce (Italy); National Institute of Nuclear Physics and University of Salento, 73100 Lecce (Italy); D’Elia, M. [Department of Mathematics and Physics “E. De Giorgi”, University of Salento, 73100 Lecce (Italy); Gontad, F., E-mail: francisco.gontad@le.infn.it [Department of Mathematics and Physics “E. De Giorgi”, University of Salento, 73100 Lecce (Italy); National Institute of Nuclear Physics and University of Salento, 73100 Lecce (Italy); Di Giulio, M.; Maruccio, G. [Department of Mathematics and Physics “E. De Giorgi”, University of Salento, 73100 Lecce (Italy); Cola, A. [National Council Research, Institute for Microelectronics and Microsystems, 73100 Lecce (Italy); Stankova, N.E. [Institute of Electronics, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 1784 Sofia (Bulgaria); Kovacheva, D.G. [Institute of General and Inorganic Chemistry, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 1113 Sofia (Bulgaria); Broitman, E. [Department of Physics, Chemistry and Biology (IFM), Linköping University, SE-581 83 Linköping (Sweden)

    2014-07-01

    Copper (Cu) thin films were deposited on yttrium (Y) substrate by sputtering. During the deposition, a small central area of the Y substrate was shielded to avoid the film deposition and was successively used to study its photoemissive properties. This configuration has two advantages: the cathode presents (i) the quantum efficiency and the work function of Y and (ii) high electrical compatibility when inserted into the conventional radio-frequency gun built with Cu bulk. The photocathode was investigated by scanning electron microscopy to determine surface morphology. X-ray diffraction and atomic force microscopy studies were performed to compare the structure and surface properties of the deposited film. The measured electrical resistivity value of the Cu film was similar to that of high purity Cu bulk. Film to substrate adhesion was also evaluated using the Daimler–Benz Rockwell-C adhesion test method. Finally, the photoelectron performance in terms of quantum efficiency was obtained in a high vacuum photodiode cell before and after laser cleaning procedures. A comparison with the results obtained with a twin sample prepared by pulsed laser deposition is presented and discussed.

  2. Titanium dioxide fine structures by RF magnetron sputter method deposited on an electron-beam resist mask

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hashiba, Hideomi; Miyazaki, Yuta; Matsushita, Sachiko

    2013-09-01

    Titanium dioxide (TiO2) has been draw attention for wide range of applications from photonic crystals for visible light range by its catalytic characteristics to tera-hertz range by its high refractive index. We present an experimental study of fabrication of fine structures of TiO2 with a ZEP electron beam resist mask followed by Ti sputter deposition techniques. A TiO2 thin layer of 150 nm thick was grown on an FTO glass substrate with a fine patterned ZEP resist mask by a conventional RF magnetron sputter method with Ti target. The deposition was carried out with argon-oxygen gases at a pressure of 5.0 x 10 -1 Pa in a chamber. During the deposition, ratio of Ar-O2 gas was kept to the ratio of 2:1 and the deposition ratio was around 0.5 Å/s to ensure enough oxygen to form TiO2 and low temperature to avoid deformation of fine pattern of the ZPU resist mask. Deposited TiO2 layers are white-transparent, amorphous, and those roughnesses are around 7 nm. Fabricated TiO2 PCs have wider TiO2 slabs of 112 nm width leaving periodic 410 x 410 nm2 air gaps. We also studied transformation of TiO2 layers and TiO2 fine structures by baking at 500 °C. XRD measurement for TiO2 shows that the amorphous TiO2 transforms to rutile and anatase forms by the baking while keeping the same profile of the fine structures. Our fabrication method can be one of a promising technique to optic devices on researches and industrial area.

  3. The Pulsed Cylindrical Magnetron for Deposition

    Science.gov (United States)

    Korenev, Sergey

    2012-10-01

    The magnetron sputtering deposition of films and coatings broadly uses in microelectronics, material science, environmental applications and etc. The rate of target evaporation and time for deposition of films and coatings depends on magnetic field. These parameters link with efficiency of gas molecules ionization by electrons. The cylindrical magnetrons use for deposition of films and coatings on inside of pipes for different protective films and coatings in oil, chemical, environmental applications. The classical forming of magnetic field by permanent magnets or coils for big and long cylindrical magnetrons is complicated. The new concept of pulsed cylindrical magnetron for high rate deposition of films and coating for big and long pipes is presented in this paper. The proposed cylindrical magnetron has azimuthally pulsed high magnetic field, which allows forming the high ionized plasma and receiving high rate of evaporation material of target (central electrode). The structure of proposed pulsed cylindrical magnetron sputtering system is given. The main requirements to deposition system are presented. The preliminary data for forming of plasma and deposition of Ta films and coatings on the metal pipers are discussed. The comparison of classical and proposed cylindrical magnetrons is given. The analysis of potential applications is considered.

  4. Effects of processing parameters on the properties of tantalum nitride thin films deposited by reactive sputtering

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Nazon, J.; Sarradin, J.; Flaud, V.; Tedenac, J.C. [Institut Charles Gerhardt, UMR 5253 CNRS-UM2-ENSCM-UM1, cc 1504, Place E. Bataillon, 34095 Montpellier Cedex 5 (France); Frety, N. [Institut Charles Gerhardt, UMR 5253 CNRS-UM2-ENSCM-UM1, cc 1504, Place E. Bataillon, 34095 Montpellier Cedex 5 (France)], E-mail: Nicole.Frety@univ-montp2.fr

    2008-09-22

    The effects of processing parameters on the properties of tantalum nitride thin films deposited by radio frequency reactive sputtering have been investigated. The influence of the N{sub 2} partial and (Ar + N{sub 2}) total gas pressures as well as the sputtering power on the microstructure and electrical properties is reported. Rising the N{sub 2} partial pressure, from 2 to 10.7%, induces a change in the composition of the {delta}-TaN phase, from TaN to TaN{sub 1.13}. This composition change is associated with a drastic increase of the electrical resistivity over a 7.3% N{sub 2} partial pressure. The total gas pressure is revealed to strongly affect the film microstructure since a variation in both composition and grain size is observed when the gas pressure rises from 6.8 to 24.6 Pa. When the sputtering power varied between 50 and 110 W, an increase of the grain size related to a decrease of the electrical resistivity is observed.

  5. Effects of pre-sputtered Al interlayer on the atomic layer deposition of Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} films on Mg–10Li–0.5Zn alloy

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wang, P.C.; Cheng, T.C. [Department of Materials Science and Engineering, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan (China); Lin, H.C., E-mail: hclinntu@ntu.edu.tw [Department of Materials Science and Engineering, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan (China); Chen, M.J., E-mail: mjchen@ntu.edu.tw [Department of Materials Science and Engineering, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan (China); Lin, K.M. [Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Feng Chia University, Taichung, Taiwan (China); Yeh, M.T. [Amli Materials Technology Co. Ltd., New Taipei, Taiwan (China)

    2013-04-01

    In this study, a dual-layer of Al/Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} films was deposited on the Mg–10Li–0.5Zn substrate using both techniques of magnetron sputtering and atomic layer deposition (ALD). The pre-sputtered Al interlayer has a crystalline structure and the ALD-Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} film is amorphous. The Al interlayer could effectively obstruct the diffusion out of Li atoms from the Mg–10Li–0.5Zn substrate during the deposition of ALD-Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} film. The Mg–10Li–0.5Zn specimen with a dual-layer of Al/Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} films exhibits a much better corrosion resistance than those specimens with a single layer of sputtered Al or ALD-Al{sub 2}O{sub 3}.

  6. Growth of ZnO nanocrystals in silica by rf co-sputter deposition and post-annealing

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Siva Kumar, V.V.; Singh, F.; Kumar, Amit; Avasthi, D.K.

    2006-01-01

    Thin films with ZnO nanocrystals in silica were synthesized by rf reactive magnetron co-sputter deposition and post-annealing. The films were deposited from a ZnO/Si composite target in an rf oxygen plasma. The deposited films were annealed in air/vacuum at high temperatures to grow ZnO nanocrystals. The deposited and annealed films were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), uv-vis spectroscopy (UV-VIS) and photoluminescence (PL) measurements. FT-IR results of the films show the vibrational features of Si-O-Si and Zn-O bonds. UV-VIS spectra of the deposited film shows the band edge of ZnO. The XRD results of the films annealed at 750 deg. C and 1000 deg. C indicate the growth of ZnO nanocrystals with average crystallite sizes between 7 nm and 26 nm. PL measurements of the deposited film show a broad visible luminescence peak which can be due to ZnO. These results suggest the growth of ZnO nanocrystals in silica matrix

  7. Structure and composition of Ba{sub 0.5}Sr{sub 0.5}TiO{sub 3} films deposited on (001) MgO substrates and the influence of sputtering pressure

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Twigg, M.E.; Alldredge, L.M.B.; Chang, W.; Podpirka, A.; Kirchoefer, S.W.; Pond, J.M.

    2013-12-02

    The structure and composition of Ba{sub 0.5}Sr{sub 0.5}TiO{sub 3} thin films, sputter deposited on (001) MgO substrates, have been characterized by transmission electron microscopy. Deviations in film stoichiometry are seen to strongly correlate with the structural and dielectric properties of these films, with the films deposited at the lower sputtering pressures either Ti-deficient or capped with a titanium oxide layer similar to the rutile TiO{sub 2} phase. Preferential sputtering of cations is found to be an important factor governing film stoichiometry. The Ti-deficient films deposited at a lower sputtering pressure contain Ruddlesden–Popper faults that increase the average lattice constant of the film and result in compressive strain and low dielectric tunability. - Highlights: • Ba{sub 0.5}Sr{sub 0.5}TiO{sub 3} (BST) film deposited at very low pressure is capped with TiO{sub 2} layer. • TiO{sub 2} capped film is under only slight compressive strain, but has poor tunability. • BST films deposited at low pressure contain Ruddlesden–Popper Faults (RPFs). • RPF-containing films have high compressive strains and poor dielectric tunability. • High-pressure films have no RPFs, little compression strain, and high tunability.

  8. Properties of Erbium Doped Hydrogenated Amorphous Carbon Layers Fabricated by Sputtering and Plasma Assisted Chemical Vapor Deposition

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    V. Prajzler

    2008-01-01

    Full Text Available We report about properties of carbon layers doped with Er3+ ions fabricated by Plasma Assisted Chemical Vapor Deposition (PACVD and by sputtering on silicon or glass substrates. The structure of the samples was characterized by X-ray diffraction and their composition was determined by Rutherford Backscattering Spectroscopy and Elastic Recoil Detection Analysis. The Absorbance spectrum was taken in the spectral range from 400 nm to 600 nm. Photoluminescence spectra were obtained using two types of Ar laser (λex=514.5 nm, lex=488 nm and also using a semiconductor laser (λex=980 nm. Samples fabricated by magnetron sputtering exhibited typical emission at 1530 nm when pumped at 514.5 nm. 

  9. Annealing dependence of residual stress and optical properties of TiO2 thin film deposited by different deposition methods.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Hsi-Chao; Lee, Kuan-Shiang; Lee, Cheng-Chung

    2008-05-01

    Titanium oxide (TiO(2)) thin films were prepared by different deposition methods. The methods were E-gun evaporation with ion-assisted deposition (IAD), radio-frequency (RF) ion-beam sputtering, and direct current (DC) magnetron sputtering. Residual stress was released after annealing the films deposited by RF ion-beam or DC magnetron sputtering but not evaporation, and the extinction coefficient varied significantly. The surface roughness of the evaporated films exceeded that of both sputtered films. At the annealing temperature of 300 degrees C, anatase crystallization occurred in evaporated film but not in the RF ion-beam or DC magnetron-sputtered films. TiO(2) films deposited by sputtering were generally more stable during annealing than those deposited by evaporation.

  10. Reactive radio frequency sputtering deposition and characterization of zinc nitride and oxynitride thin films

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jiang, Nanke; Georgiev, Daniel G.; Wen, Ting; Jayatissa, Ahalapitiya H.

    2012-01-01

    Zinc nitride films were deposited on glass or silicon substrates by reactive magnetron radio frequency sputtering of zinc in either N 2 –Ar or N 2 –Ar–O 2 ambient. The effects of varying the nitrogen contents and the substrate temperature were investigated. X-ray diffraction data showed that the as-deposited films contain the zinc nitride cubic crystalline phase with a preferred orientation, and Raman scattering measurements revealed Zn-N related modes. According to energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy analysis, the as-deposited films were nitrogen-rich and contained only a small fraction of oxygen. Hall-effect measurements showed that p-type zinc nitride with carrier concentration of ∼ 10 19 cm −3 , mobility of ∼ 10 1 cm 2 /Vs, resistivity of ∼ 10 −2 Ω ∗ cm, was obtained. The photon energy dependence of optical transmittance suggested that the material has an indirect bandgap.

  11. Effect of N{sub 2} flow rate on the microstructure and electrochemical behavior of TaN{sub x} films deposited by modulated pulsed power magnetron sputtering

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Mendizabal, L., E-mail: lucia.mendizabal@tekniker.es [IK4-TEKNIKER, Department of Surface Physics and Technology, Iñaki Goenaga 5, 20600 Eibar (Spain); Bayón, R. [IK4-TEKNIKER, Department of Tribology, Iñaki Goenaga 5, 20600 Eibar (Spain); G-Berasategui, E.; Barriga, J. [IK4-TEKNIKER, Department of Surface Physics and Technology, Iñaki Goenaga 5, 20600 Eibar (Spain); Gonzalez, J.J. [ETSIB University of Basque Country, Department of Material Science, Alameda de Urquijo s/n, 48013 Bilbao (Spain)

    2016-07-01

    Modulated pulsed power magnetron sputtering (MPPMS) technology offers the possibility to grow high performance coatings compared to the ones developed by conventional dc magnetron sputtering. The high degree of ionization of sputtered particles developed during MPPMS can be usefully utilized to precisely tailor the properties of the growing films. One of the main advantages of such a high metal ion flux is related to the densification of the coatings due to enhance ion bombardment towards the growing film. The development of extremely dense and low-defect microstructure coatings can have a positive effect on the corrosion resistance of tantalum nitride (TaN{sub x}) films. In this study, TaN{sub x} thin films have been deposited by MPPMS in a closed field unbalanced magnetron sputtering system. Structure, surface morphology, hardness and corrosion resistance of the developed coatings have been analyzed as a function of different N{sub 2}-to-Ar ratios (0, 0.25, 0.625, 1). X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy analysis reveal high dependence of the grown crystal phases and the microstructure on N{sub 2}-to-Ar ratio. The hardness of the TaN{sub x} coatings increases when increasing N{sub 2}-to-Ar ratio up to a maximum value of 25 GPa (N{sub 2}-to-Ar ratio of 0.625). The corrosion behavior was investigated using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and linear sweep voltammetry. EIS measurements registered at different immersion times show high impedance values (in the order of 10 MΩ cm{sup 2}) and corrosion resistance enhancement with time, indicating the formation of a passive protective oxide layer on the top of their surfaces. TaN{sub x} film grown at 0.25 N{sub 2}-to-Ar ratio exhibits the highest corrosion resistance of 103.53 MΩ cm{sup 2} and low porosity of 1.63 × 10{sup −3} and is characterized by columnar-free microstructure. - Highlights: • TaN{sub X} coatings deposited by MPPMS at different N{sub 2}-to-Ar ratios have been

  12. Magnetron reactively sputtered Ti-DLC coatings on HNBR rubber : The influence of substrate bias

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Bui, X.L.; Pei, Y.T.; Hosson, J.Th.M. De

    2008-01-01

    In this study, Ti-containing diamond-like carbon (Ti-DLC) coatings have been deposited on HNBR (hydrogenated nitrile butadiene) rubber and also on Si wafer as reference via unbalanced magnetroli reactive sputtering from a Ti target in C2H2/Ar plasma. The deposition rates of coatings on rubber and Si

  13. Development of a new foil compounded from carbon nanotubes and sputter-deposition carbon

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hiroo Hasebe; Hironori Kuboki; Hiroki Okuno; Isao Yamane; Hiroshi Imao; Nobuhisa Fukunishi; Masayuki Kase; Osamu Kamigaito

    2014-01-01

    New carbon-nanotube-sputter-deposition-carbon (CNT-SDC) foils were developed and used in the U beam time at the RIKEN RI Beam Factory (RIBF) from October to December 2011. The lifetimes of these new foils were drastically extended, and stable, high-intensity U beams were successfully provided to users. The lifetime of the CNT-SDC foils was 2-5 C, which was 100 times longer than those of static C-foils previously used. The qualitative analysis of the CNT-SDC foils clearly showed that the CNT structure and bundles were broken by beam irradiation. In addition, it was found that CNT bundles in the CNT-SDC foil were grown after the carbon deposition procedure. This structure was considered to be the reason that the CNT-SDC foils maintain advantages of both CNT and SDC foils. (author)

  14. Scaling of surface roughness in sputter-deposited ZnO:Al thin films

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mohanty, Bhaskar Chandra; Choi, Hong-Rak; Cho, Yong Soo

    2009-01-01

    We have studied surface roughness scaling of ZnO:Al thin films grown by rf magnetron sputtering of a compound target within framework of the dynamic scaling theory using atomic force microscopy. We have observed a crossover in scaling behavior of surface roughness at a deposition time of 25 min. Both the regimes are characterized by power-law dependence of local surface width w(r,t) on deposition time for small r, typical of anomalous scaling. The scaling exponents for the first regime indicate the existence of a new dynamics. For t≥25 min, the films follow super-rough scaling behavior with global exponents α=1.5±0.2 and β=1.03±0.01, and local exponents α local =1 and β local =0.67±0.05. The anomaly in the scaling behavior of the films is discussed in terms of the shadowing instability and bombardment of energetic particles during growth of the films.

  15. Growth, structure and stability of sputter-deposited MoS2 thin films

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Reinhard Kaindl

    2017-05-01

    Full Text Available Molybdenum disulphide (MoS2 thin films have received increasing interest as device-active layers in low-dimensional electronics and also as novel catalysts in electrochemical processes such as the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER in electrochemical water splitting. For both types of applications, industrially scalable fabrication methods with good control over the MoS2 film properties are crucial. Here, we investigate scalable physical vapour deposition (PVD of MoS2 films by magnetron sputtering. MoS2 films with thicknesses from ≈10 to ≈1000 nm were deposited on SiO2/Si and reticulated vitreous carbon (RVC substrates. Samples deposited at room temperature (RT and at 400 °C were compared. The deposited MoS2 was characterized by macro- and microscopic X-ray, electron beam and light scattering, scanning and spectroscopic methods as well as electrical device characterization. We find that room-temperature-deposited MoS2 films are amorphous, of smooth surface morphology and easily degraded upon moderate laser-induced annealing in ambient conditions. In contrast, films deposited at 400 °C are nano-crystalline, show a nano-grained surface morphology and are comparatively stable against laser-induced degradation. Interestingly, results from electrical transport measurements indicate an unexpected metallic-like conduction character of the studied PVD MoS2 films, independent of deposition temperature. Possible reasons for these unusual electrical properties of our PVD MoS2 thin films are discussed. A potential application for such conductive nanostructured MoS2 films could be as catalytically active electrodes in (photo-electrocatalysis and initial electrochemical measurements suggest directions for future work on our PVD MoS2 films.

  16. In Situ and Ex Situ Studies of Molybdenum Thin Films Deposited by rf and dc Magnetron Sputtering as a Back Contact for CIGS Solar Cells

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    K. Aryal

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available Molybdenum thin films were deposited by rf and dc magnetron sputtering and their properties analyzed with regards to their potential application as a back contact for CIGS solar cells. It is shown that both types of films tend to transition from tensile to compressive strain when the deposition pressure increases, while the conductivity and the grain size decreas. The nucleation of the films characterized by in situ and real time spectroscopic ellipsometry shows that both films follow a Volmer-Weber growth, with a higher surface roughness and lower deposition rate for the rf deposited films. The electronic relaxation time was then extracted as a function of bulk layer thickness for rf and dc films by fitting each dielectric function to a Drude free-electron model combined with a broad Lorentz oscillator. The values were fitted to a conical growth mode and demonstrated that the rf-deposited films have already smaller grains than the dc films when the bulk layer thickness is 30 nm.

  17. Thin films of thermoelectric compound Mg2Sn deposited by co-sputtering assisted by multi-dipolar microwave plasma

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Le-Quoc, H.; Lacoste, A.; Hlil, E.K.; Bes, A.; Vinh, T. Tan; Fruchart, D.; Skryabina, N.

    2011-01-01

    Highlights: → Mg 2 Sn thin films deposited by plasma co-sputtering, on silicon and glass substrates. → Formation of nano-grained polycrystalline films on substrates at room temperature. → Structural properties vary with target biasing and target-substrate distance. → Formation of the hexagonal phase of Mg 2 Sn in certain deposition conditions. → Power factor ∼5.0 x 10 -3 W K -2 m -1 for stoichiometric Mg 2 Sn films doped with ∼1 at.% Ag. - Abstract: Magnesium stannide (Mg 2 Sn) thin films doped with Ag intended for thermoelectric applications are deposited on both silicon and glass substrates at room temperature by plasma assisted co-sputtering. Characterization by scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction confirms the formation of fine-grained polycrystalline thin films with thickness of 1-3 μm. Stoichiometry, microstructure and crystal structure of thin films are found to vary with target biasing and the distance from targets to substrate. Measurements of electrical resistivity and Seebeck coefficient at room temperature show the maximum power factor of ∼5.0 x 10 -3 W K -2 m -1 for stoichiometric Mg 2 Sn thin films doped with ∼1 at.% Ag.

  18. Influence of sputtering gas pressure on properties of transparent conducting Si-doped zinc oxide films

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Qin, Hua; Liu, Hunfa; Lei, Chengxin [Shandong Univ. of Technology, Zibo (China). Dept. of Sciences

    2013-10-15

    Si-doped zinc oxide (SZO, Si 3%) thin films were deposited on glass substrates by means of direct current magnetron sputtering under different pressures. The influence of sputtering pressure on structure, morphology, optical and electrical properties of SZO thin films was investigated. The results reveal that the sputtering pressures have a significant impact on the growth rate, crystal quality and electrical properties of the films, but have little impact on the optical properties of the films. SZO thin film samples grown on glasses are polycrystalline with a hexagonal wurtzite structure and have a preferred orientation along the c-axis perpendicular to the substrate. When the sputtering pressure increases from 2 to 8 Pa, the film surface becomes compact and smooth, the degree of crystallization of the films increases, and the resistivity of films decreases. However, when the sputtering pressure continues to increase from 8 to 10 Pa, the degree of crystallization of the films decreases, the grain size decreases, and the resistivity of the films increases. SZO(3%) thin film deposited at a sputtering pressure of 8 Pa shows the largest carrier concentration, the largest mobility, the lowest resistivity of 3.0 x 10{sup -4} {Omega} cm and a high overall transmission of 93.3% in the visible range. (orig.)

  19. Computer simulation of sputtering of graphite target in magnetron sputtering device with two zones of erosion

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bogdanov R.V.

    2015-03-01

    Full Text Available A computer simulation program for discharge in a magnetron sputtering device with two erosion zones was developed. Basic laws of the graphite target sputtering process and transport of sputtered material to the substrate were taken into account in the Monte Carlo code. The results of computer simulation for radial distributions of density and energy flux of carbon atoms on the substrate (at different values of discharge current and pressure of the working gas confirmed the possibility of obtaining qualitative homogeneous films using this magnetron sputtering device. Also the discharge modes were determined for this magnetron sputtering device, in which it was possible to obtain such energy and density of carbon atoms fluxes, which were suitable for deposition of carbon films containing carbon nanotubes and other nanoparticles.

  20. Mechanical, tribological and corrosion properties of CrBN films deposited by combined direct current and radio frequency magnetron sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jahodova, Vera; Ding, Xing-zhao; Seng, Debbie H.L.; Gulbinski, W.; Louda, P.

    2013-01-01

    Cr–B–N films were deposited on stainless steel substrates by a combined direct current and radio frequency (RF) reactive unbalanced magnetron sputtering process using two elemental Cr and one compound BN targets. Boron content in the as-deposited films was qualitatively analyzed by time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectroscopy. Films' microstructure, mechanical and tribological properties were characterized by X-ray diffraction, nanoindentation and pin-on-disk tribometer experiments. Corrosion behavior of the Cr–B–N films was evaluated by electrochemical potentiodynamic polarization method in a 3 wt.% NaCl solution. All the films were crystallized into a NaCl-type cubic structure. At lower RF power applied on the BN target (≤ 600 W), films are relatively randomly oriented, and films' crystallinity increased with increasing RF power. With increasing RF power further (≥ 800 W), films became (200) preferentially oriented, and films' crystallinity decreased gradually. With incorporation of a small amount of boron atoms into the CrN films, hardness, wear- and corrosion-resistance were all improved evidently. The best wear and corrosion resistance was obtained for the film deposited with 600 W RF power applied on the BN target. - Highlights: • CrBN films deposited by direct current and radio frequency magnetron sputtering. • CrBN exhibited higher hardness, wear- and corrosion-resistance than pure CrN. • The best wear- and corrosion-resistant film was deposited with 600 W RF power

  1. Reactive-environment, hollow cathode sputtering: Basic characteristics and application to Al2O3, doped ZnO, and In2O3:Mo

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Delahoy, A.E.; Guo, S.Y.; Paduraru, C.; Belkind, A.

    2004-01-01

    A method for thin-film deposition has been studied. The method is based on metal sputtering in a hollow cathode configuration with supply of a reactive gas in the vicinity of the substrate. The working gas and entrained sputtered atoms exit the cathode through an elongated slot. The reactive gas is thereby largely prevented from reaching the target. The basic operation of the cathode was studied using a Cu target and pulsed power excitation. These studies included the dependence of deposition rate on power, pressure, and flow rate, film thickness profiles, and film resistivity as a function of substrate conditions. Modeling was conducted to calculate the gas velocity distribution and pressure inside the cavity. Al 2 O 3 films were prepared in a reactive environment of oxygen by sputtering an Al target. It was demonstrated that only a very small amount of oxygen passing through the cathode will oxidize (poison) the target, whereas large quantities of oxygen supplied externally to the cathode need not affect the target at all. A very stable discharge and ease of Al 2 O 3 formation were realized in this latter mode. The method was applied to the preparation of transparent, conductive films of ZnO doped with either Al or B. High deposition rates were achieved, and, at appropriate oxygen flow rates, low film resistivities. High-mobility In 2 O 3 :Mo transparent conductors were also prepared, with resistivities as low as 1.9x10 -4 Ω cm. Scaling relations for hollow cathodes, and deposition efficiency, and process comparisons between magnetron sputtering and linear, reactive-environment, hollow cathode sputtering are presented

  2. Effects of deposition temperatures on structure and physical properties of Cd 1-xZn xTe films prepared by RF magnetron sputtering

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zeng, Dongmei; Jie, Wanqi; Zhou, Hai; Yang, Yingge

    2010-02-01

    Cd 1-xZn xTe films were deposited by RF magnetron sputtering from Cd 0.9Zn 0.1Te crystals target at different substrate temperatures (100-400 °C). The effects of the deposition temperature on structure and physical properties of Cd 1-xZn xTe films have been studied using X-ray diffraction (XRD), step profilometer, atomic force microscopy (AFM), ultraviolet spectrophotometer and Hall effect measurements. X-ray studies suggest that the deposited films were polycrystalline with preferential (1 1 1) orientation. AFM micrographs show that the grain size was changed from 50 to 250 nm with the increase of deposition temperatures, the increased grain size may result from kinetic factors during sputtering growth. The optical transmission data indicate that shallow absorption edge occurs in the range of 744-835 nm and that the optical absorption coefficient is varied with the increase of deposition temperatures. In Hall Effect measurements, the sheet resistivities of the deposited films are 3.2×10 8, 3.0×10 8, 1.9×10 8 and 1.1×10 8 Ohm/sq, which were decreased with the increase of substrate temperatures. Analysis of the resistivity of films depended on the substrate temperatures is discussed.

  3. Influence of reactive oxygen species during deposition of iron oxide films by high power impulse magnetron sputtering

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stranak, V.; Hubicka, Z.; Cada, M.; Bogdanowicz, R.; Wulff, H.; Helm, C. A.; Hippler, R.

    2018-03-01

    Iron oxide films were deposited using high power impulse magnetron sputtering (HiPIMS) of an iron cathode in an argon/oxygen gas mixture at different gas pressures (0.5 Pa, 1.5 Pa, and 5.0 Pa). The HiPIMS system was operated at a repetition frequency f  =  100 Hz with a duty cycle of 1%. A main goal is a comparison of film growth during conventional and electron cyclotron wave resonance-assisted HiPIMS. The deposition plasma was investigated by means of optical emission spectroscopy and energy-resolved mass spectrometry. Active oxygen species were detected and their kinetic energy was found to depend on the gas pressure. Deposited films were characterized by means of spectroscopic ellipsometry and grazing incidence x-ray diffraction. Optical properties and crystallinity of as-deposited films were found to depend on the deposition conditions. Deposition of hematite iron oxide films with the HiPIMS-ECWR discharge is attributed to the enhanced production of reactive oxygen species.

  4. Sputtered tungsten-based ternary and quaternary layers for nanocrystalline diamond deposition.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Walock, Michael J; Rahil, Issam; Zou, Yujiao; Imhoff, Luc; Catledge, Shane A; Nouveau, Corinne; Stanishevsky, Andrei V

    2012-06-01

    Many of today's demanding applications require thin-film coatings with high hardness, toughness, and thermal stability. In many cases, coating thickness in the range 2-20 microm and low surface roughness are required. Diamond films meet many of the stated requirements, but their crystalline nature leads to a high surface roughness. Nanocrystalline diamond offers a smoother surface, but significant surface modification of the substrate is necessary for successful nanocrystalline diamond deposition and adhesion. A hybrid hard and tough material may be required for either the desired applications, or as a basis for nanocrystalline diamond film growth. One possibility is a composite system based on carbides or nitrides. Many binary carbides and nitrides offer one or more mentioned properties. By combining these binary compounds in a ternary or quaternary nanocrystalline system, we can tailor the material for a desired combination of properties. Here, we describe the results on the structural and mechanical properties of the coating systems composed of tungsten-chromium-carbide and/or nitride. These WC-Cr-(N) coatings are deposited using magnetron sputtering. The growth of adherent nanocrystalline diamond films by microwave plasma chemical vapor deposition has been demonstrated on these coatings. The WC-Cr-(N) and WC-Cr-(N)-NCD coatings are characterized with atomic force microscopy and SEM, X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, and nanoindentation.

  5. Vanadium oxide thin films deposited on silicon dioxide buffer layers by magnetron sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chen Sihai; Ma Hong; Wang Shuangbao; Shen Nan; Xiao Jing; Zhou Hao; Zhao Xiaomei; Li Yi; Yi Xinjian

    2006-01-01

    Thin films made by vanadium oxide have been obtained by direct current magnetron sputtering method on SiO 2 buffer layers. A detailed electrical and structural characterization has been performed on the deposited films by four-point probe method and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). At room temperature, the four-point probe measurement result presents the resistance of the film to be 25 kU/sheet. The temperature coefficient of resistance is - 2.0%/K. SEM image indicates that the vanadium oxide exhibits a submicrostructure with lamella size ranging from 60 nm to 300 nm. A 32 x 32-element test microbolometer was fabricated based on the deposited thin film. The infrared response testing showed that the response was 200 mV. The obtained results allow us to conclude that the vanadium oxide thin films on SiO 2 buffer layers is suitable for uncooled focal plane arrays applications

  6. Fluence-dependent sputtering yield of micro-architectured materials

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Matthes, Christopher S.R.; Ghoniem, Nasr M., E-mail: ghoniem@ucla.edu; Li, Gary Z.; Matlock, Taylor S.; Goebel, Dan M.; Dodson, Chris A.; Wirz, Richard E.

    2017-06-15

    Highlights: • Sputtering yield is shown to be transient and heavily dependent on surface architecture. • Fabricated nano- and Microstructures cause geometric re-trapping of sputtered material, which leads to a self-healing mechanism. • Initially, the sputtering yield of micro-architectured Mo is approximately 1/2 the value as that of a planar surface. • The study demonstrates that the sputtering yield is a dynamic property, dependent on the surface structure of a material. • A developed phenomenological model mathematically describes the transient behavior of the sputtering yield as a function of plasma fluence. - Abstract: We present an experimental examination of the relationship between the surface morphology of Mo and its instantaneous sputtering rate as function of low-energy plasma ion fluence. We quantify the dynamic evolution of nano/micro features of surfaces with built-in architecture, and the corresponding variation in the sputtering yield. Ballistic deposition of sputtered atoms as a result of geometric re-trapping is observed, and re-growth of surface layers is confirmed. This provides a self-healing mechanism of micro-architectured surfaces during plasma exposure. A variety of material characterization techniques are used to show that the sputtering yield is not a fundamental property, but that it is quantitatively related to the initial surface architecture and to its subsequent evolution. The sputtering yield of textured molybdenum samples exposed to 300 eV Ar plasma is roughly 1/2 of the corresponding value for flat samples, and increases with ion fluence. Mo samples exhibited a sputtering yield initially as low as 0.22 ± 5%, converging to 0.4 ± 5% at high fluence. The sputtering yield exhibits a transient behavior as function of the integrated ion fluence, reaching a steady-state value that is independent of initial surface conditions. A phenomenological model is proposed to explain the observed transient sputtering phenomenon, and to

  7. Solid oxide fuel cells with apatite-type lanthanum silicate-based electrolyte films deposited by radio frequency magnetron sputtering

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Yi-Xin; Wang, Sea-Fue; Hsu, Yung-Fu; Wang, Chi-Hua

    2018-03-01

    In this study, solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) containing high-quality apatite-type magnesium doped lanthanum silicate-based electrolyte films (LSMO) deposited by RF magnetron sputtering are successfully fabricated. The LSMO film deposited at an Ar:O2 ratio of 6:4 on an anode supported NiO/Sm0.2Ce0·8O2-δ (SDC) substrate followed by post-annealing at 1000 °C reveals a uniform and dense c-axis oriented polycrystalline structure, which is well adhered to the anode substrate. A composite SDC/La0·6Sr0·4Co0·2Fe0·8O3-δ cathode layer is subsequently screen-printed on the LSMO deposited anode substrate and fired. The SOFC fabricated with the LSMO film exhibits good mechanical integrity. The single cell with the LSMO layer of ≈2.8 μm thickness reports a total cell resistance of 1.156 and 0.163 Ωcm2, open circuit voltage of 1.051 and 0.982 V, and maximum power densities of 0.212 and 1.490 Wcm-2 at measurement temperatures of 700 and 850 °C, respectively, which are comparable or superior to those of previously reported SOFCs with yttria stabilized zirconia electrolyte films. The results of the present study demonstrate the feasibility of deposition of high-quality LSMO films by RF magnetron sputtering on NiO-SDC anode substrates for the fabrication of SOFCs with good cell performance.

  8. Photocatalytic activity of self-assembled porous TiO2 nano-columns array fabricated by oblique angle sputter deposition

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shi, Pengjun; Li, Xibo; Zhang, Qiuju; Yi, Zao; Luo, Jiangshan

    2018-04-01

    A well-separated and oriented TiO2 nano-columns arrays with porous structure were fabricated by the oblique angle sputter deposition technique and subsequently annealing at 450 °C in Ar/O2 mixed atmosphere. The deposited substrate was firstly modified by a template of self-assembled close-packed arrays of 500 nm-diameter silica (SiO2) spheres. Scanning electronic microscopic (SEM) images show that the porous columnar nanostructure is formed as a result of the geometric shadowing effect and surface diffusion of the adatoms in oblique angle deposition (OAD). X-ray diffraction (XRD) measurements reveal that the physically OAD film with annealing treatment are generally mixed phase of rutile and anatase TiO2 polymorphic forms. The morphology induced absorbance and band gap tuning by different substrates was demonstrated by the UV–vis spectroscopy. The well-separated one-dimensional (1D) nano-columns array with specific large porous surface area is beneficial for charge separation in photocatalytic degradation. Compared with compact thin film, such self-assembled porous TiO2 nano-columns array fabricated by oblique angle sputter deposition performed an enhanced visible light induced photocatalytic activity by decomposing methyl orange (MO) solution. The well-designed periodic array-structured porous TiO2 films by using modified patterned substrates has been demonstrated significantly increased absorption edge in the UV-visible light region with a narrower optical band gap, which are expected to be favorable for application in photovoltaic, lithium-ion insertion and photocatalytic, etc.

  9. Comparative study of niobium nitride coatings deposited by unbalanced and balanced magnetron sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Olaya, J.J.; Rodil, S.E.; Muhl, S.

    2008-01-01

    Niobium nitride (NbN) coatings have many interesting properties such as chemical inertness, excellent mechanical properties, high electrical conductivity, high melting point, and a superconducting transition temperature between 16 and 17 K. For this reason, these compounds have many potential thin film applications. In this work we compare the properties of NbN x films deposited using well-characterized balanced and unbalanced magnetron sputtering systems. Samples of NbN were deposited in the two systems under almost identical deposition conditions, that is, the same substrate temperature, plasma power, gas pressure, substrate to target distance and Ar/N 2 ratio. Prior to the film preparation both the magnetic field geometry and the characteristics of the plasma were determined. The microstructure and composition of the deposits were analyzed by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The corrosion resistance and the micro-abrasion wear resistance were measured by anodic polarization potentiodynamic studies and by ball cratering, respectively. The NbN films grown using the highly unbalanced magnetron configuration had a preferential (111) crystal orientation and a composite hardness of up to 2400 HV 0.025 . While the films deposited using the balanced magnetron had a mixed crystalline orientation and a hardness of 2000 HV 0.025 . The results demonstrate the strong effect of magnetic field configuration on the ion bombardment, and the resultant coating characteristics

  10. Comparative study of niobium nitride coatings deposited by unbalanced and balanced magnetron sputtering

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Olaya, J.J. [Departamento de Ingenieria Mecanica y Mecatronica, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogota Colombia (Colombia); Rodil, S.E. [Instituto de Investigaciones en Materiales, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, Mexico D. F. 04510 (Mexico); Muhl, S. [Instituto de Investigaciones en Materiales, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, Mexico D. F. 04510 (Mexico)], E-mail: muhl@servidor.unam.mx

    2008-10-01

    Niobium nitride (NbN) coatings have many interesting properties such as chemical inertness, excellent mechanical properties, high electrical conductivity, high melting point, and a superconducting transition temperature between 16 and 17 K. For this reason, these compounds have many potential thin film applications. In this work we compare the properties of NbN{sub x} films deposited using well-characterized balanced and unbalanced magnetron sputtering systems. Samples of NbN were deposited in the two systems under almost identical deposition conditions, that is, the same substrate temperature, plasma power, gas pressure, substrate to target distance and Ar/N{sub 2} ratio. Prior to the film preparation both the magnetic field geometry and the characteristics of the plasma were determined. The microstructure and composition of the deposits were analyzed by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The corrosion resistance and the micro-abrasion wear resistance were measured by anodic polarization potentiodynamic studies and by ball cratering, respectively. The NbN films grown using the highly unbalanced magnetron configuration had a preferential (111) crystal orientation and a composite hardness of up to 2400 HV{sub 0.025}. While the films deposited using the balanced magnetron had a mixed crystalline orientation and a hardness of 2000 HV{sub 0.025}. The results demonstrate the strong effect of magnetic field configuration on the ion bombardment, and the resultant coating characteristics.

  11. Adhesion Improvement and Characterization of Magnetron Sputter Deposited Bilayer Molybdenum Thin Films for Rear Contact Application in CIGS Solar Cells

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Weimin Li

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Molybdenum (Mo thin films are widely used as rear electrodes in copper indium gallium diselenide (CIGS solar cells. The challenge in Mo deposition by magnetron sputtering lies in simultaneously achieving good adhesion to the substrates while retaining the electrical and optical properties. Bilayer Mo films, comprising five different thickness ratios of a high pressure (HP deposited bottom layer and a low pressure (LP deposited top layer, were deposited on 40 cm × 30 cm soda-lime glass substrates by DC magnetron sputtering. We focus on understanding the effects of the individual layer properties on the resulting bilayer Mo films, such as microstructure, surface morphology, and surface oxidation. We show that the thickness of the bottom HP Mo layer plays a major role in determining the micromechanical and physical properties of the bilayer Mo stack. Our studies reveal that a thicker HP Mo bottom layer not only improves the adhesion of the bilayer Mo, but also helps to improve the film crystallinity along the preferred [110] direction. However, the surface roughness and the porosity of the bilayer Mo films are found to increase with increasing bottom layer thickness, which leads to lower optical reflectance and a higher probability for oxidation at the Mo surface.

  12. Post-deposition annealing effects in RF reactive magnetron sputtered indium tin oxide thin films

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Martinez, M A; Herrero, J; Gutierrez, M T [Inst. de Energias Renovables (CIEMAT), Madrid (Spain)

    1992-05-01

    Indium tin oxide films have been grown by RF reactive magnetron sputtering. The influence of the deposition parameters on the properties of the films has been investigated and optimized, obtaining a value for the figure of merit of 6700 ({Omega} cm){sup -1}. As-grown indium tin oxide films were annealed in vacuum and O{sub 2} atmosphere. After these heat treatments the electro-optical properties were improved, with values for the resistivity of 1.9x10{sup -4} {Omega} cm and the figure of merit of 26700 ({Omega} cm){sup -1}. (orig.).

  13. Research of boron conversion coating in neutron detector with boron deposited GEM

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ye Di; Sun Zhijia; Zhou Jianrong; Wang Yanfeng; Yang Guian; Xu Hong; Chen Yuanbai; Xiao Yu; Diao Xungang

    2014-01-01

    GEM is a flourishing new gas detector and nowadays its technology become more mature. It has outstanding properties, such as excellent position resolution, high counting rate, radiation resistance, simple and flexible signal readout, can be large-area detector, wide application range. Detector with boron deposited GEM uses multilayer GEM with deposited boron film as neutron conversion carrier which reads out the information of neutron shot from the readout electrode with gas amplification from every GEM layer. The detector is high performance which can meet the demands of neutron detector of a new generation. Boron deposited neutron conversion electrode with boron deposited cathode and GEM included is the core part of the detector. As boron is a high-melting-point metalloid (> 2 000 ℃), electroplating and thermal evaporation are inappropriate ways. So finding a way to deposit boron on electrode which can meet the demands become a key technology in the development of neutron detector with boron deposited GEM. Compared with evaporation, sputtering has features such as low deposition temperature, high film purity, nice adhesive, thus is appropriate for our research. Magnetron sputtering is a improved way of sputtering which can get lower sputtering air pressure and higher target voltage, so that we can get better films. Through deposit process, the research uses magnetron sputtering to deposit pure boron film on copper electrode and GEM film. This method can get high quality, nice adhere, high purity, controllable uniformity, low cost film with high speed film formation. (authors)

  14. Fe3O4 thin films sputter deposited from iron oxide targets

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Peng, Yingguo; Park, Chandro; Laughlin, David E.

    2003-01-01

    Fe 3 O 4 thin films have been directly sputter deposited from a target consisting of a mixture of Fe 3 O 4 and Fe 2 O 3 onto Si and glass substrates. The magnetic properties and microstructures of the films have been characterized and correlated. The columnar growth of the Fe 3 O 4 grains was found to be initialized from the substrate surface without any critical thickness. Substrate bias was found to be a very effective means of improving the crystal quality and magnetic properties of the thin films. The crystallographic defects revealed by high resolution transmission electron microscopy seem to be a characteristic of the films prepared by this method

  15. Characterization of sputter deposited thin film scandate cathodes for miniaturized thermionic converter applications

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zavadil, Kevin R.; Ruffner, Judith H.; King, Donald B.

    1999-01-01

    We have successfully developed a method for fabricating scandate-based thermionic emitters in thin film form. The primary goal of our effort is to develop thin film emitters that exhibit low work function, high intrinsic electron emissivity, minimum thermal activation properties and that can be readily incorporated into a microgap converter. Our approach has been to incorporate BaSrO into a Sc2O3 matrix using rf sputtering to produce thin films. Diode testing has shown the resulting films to be electron emissive at temperatures as low as 900 K with current densities of 0.1 mA.cm-2 at 1100 K and saturation voltages. We calculate an approximate maximum work function of 1.8 eV and an apparent emission constant (Richardson's constant, A*) of 36 mA.cm-2.K-2. Film compositional and structural analysis shows that a significant surface and subsurface alkaline earth hydroxide phase can form and probably explains the limited utilization and stability of Ba and its surface complexes. The flexibility inherent in sputter deposition suggests alternate strategies for eliminating undesirable phases and optimizing thin film emitter properties.

  16. RF-superimposed DC and pulsed DC sputtering for deposition of transparent conductive oxides

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Stowell, Michael; Mueller, Joachim; Ruske, Manfred; Lutz, Mark; Linz, Thomas

    2007-01-01

    Transparent conductive oxide films are widely used materials for electronic applications such as flat panel displays and solar cells. The superposition of DC and pulsed DC power by a certain fraction of RF power was applied to deposit indium tin oxide films. This technique allows an additional tuning of different parameters relevant to film growth, and yields high quality films even under kinetically limited conditions. A long-term stable RF/DC process could be realized by using different combinations of standard power supply components, which includes a fully reliable arc handling system for both the RF and DC generators. The effectiveness of the arc handling system is illustrated by the current and voltage behavior recorded for actual arcing events. The resistivity of indium tin oxide films is strongly influenced by the respective sputtering mode. The best resistivity values of 145-148 μΩ cm were obtained by RF-superimposed pulsed DC sputtering at a pulse frequency between 100 and 200 kHz and a substrate temperature as low as 140 deg. C. In addition, the films were extremely smooth with a surface roughness of 1-2.5 nm

  17. Structure and mechanical properties of Ti-Si-C coatings deposited by magnetron sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Koutzaki, S.H.; Krzanowski, J.E.; Nainaparampril, J.J.

    2001-01-01

    Nanostructured coatings consisting of mixed carbide phases can provide a potential means to developing superhard coatings. Heterogeneous nanostructured coatings can be obtained by either deposition of multilayer structures or by depositing film compositions that undergo a natural phase separation due to thermodynamic immiscibility. In the present work, we have taken the latter approach, and deposited films by radio frequency cosputtering from dual carbide targets. We have examined a number of ternary carbide systems, and here we report the results obtained on Ti-Si-C films with a nominal (Ti 1-x Si x )C stoichiometry and with x≤0.31. It was found that the nanoindentation hardness increased with Si content, and the maximum hardness achieved was nearly twice that of sputter-deposited TiC. We further analyzed these films using high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (TEM), x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and x-ray diffraction. Since cubic SiC has an x-ray pattern almost identical to that of TiC, the extent of phase separation could not be determined by that method. However, XRD did demonstrate a general disordering of the films with increasing SiC content. In addition, a mottled structure was observed in high-resolution TEM images of the Si-containing films, confirming microstructural effects due to the Si additions

  18. RF sputtering deposited a-IGZO films for LCD alignment layer application

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wu, G.M.; Liu, C.Y.; Sahoo, A.K.

    2015-01-01

    Highlights: • a-IGZO nanolayer has been presented for alignment of liquid crystals in LCD. • RF sputtering deposition at an oblique angle has been performed to grow the films. • High transparency over 90% was obtained in the visible wavelength range. • The OCB cells exhibited fast on-off and short response time of 5.04 ms. • V–T characteristics proved high contrast ratio for LCD display applications. - Abstract: In this paper, amorphous indium gallium zinc oxide (a-IGZO) inorganic films were deposited at a fixed oblique angle using radio-frequency sputtering on indium tin oxide (ITO) glass as alternative alignment layer for liquid crystal displays. A series of experiments have been carried out to reveal the physical characteristics of the a-IGZO films, such as optical transmittance, X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The special treatment a-IGZO films were used to fabricate liquid crystal (LC) cells and investigate the performances of these cells. Pretilt angles were measured with anti-parallel LC cells and voltage–transmittance (V–T) curve, contrast ratio, and response time were evaluated with optically compensated bend (OCB) LC cells. The electro-optical characteristics of the aligned homogenous LCs, and OCB mode cells based on the a-IGZO alignment layer were compared to those based on rubbing processed polyimide (PI). The results showed that the average transmittance in the visible wavelength range was higher than 90% for the a-IGZO alignment layer. The LC pretilt angle has been determined at about 6°. The evaluted cell critical voltage at maximum transmittance was 1.8 V, lower than the control cell using PI alignment layer. The OCB cell rise time and fall time were 1.55 ms and 3.49 ms, respectivly. A very quick response time of 5.04 ms has thus been achived. In addition, the study of V–T characteristics suggested higher contrast ratio for LCD display applications.

  19. RF sputtering deposited a-IGZO films for LCD alignment layer application

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wu, G.M., E-mail: wu@mail.cgu.edu.tw; Liu, C.Y.; Sahoo, A.K.

    2015-11-01

    Highlights: • a-IGZO nanolayer has been presented for alignment of liquid crystals in LCD. • RF sputtering deposition at an oblique angle has been performed to grow the films. • High transparency over 90% was obtained in the visible wavelength range. • The OCB cells exhibited fast on-off and short response time of 5.04 ms. • V–T characteristics proved high contrast ratio for LCD display applications. - Abstract: In this paper, amorphous indium gallium zinc oxide (a-IGZO) inorganic films were deposited at a fixed oblique angle using radio-frequency sputtering on indium tin oxide (ITO) glass as alternative alignment layer for liquid crystal displays. A series of experiments have been carried out to reveal the physical characteristics of the a-IGZO films, such as optical transmittance, X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The special treatment a-IGZO films were used to fabricate liquid crystal (LC) cells and investigate the performances of these cells. Pretilt angles were measured with anti-parallel LC cells and voltage–transmittance (V–T) curve, contrast ratio, and response time were evaluated with optically compensated bend (OCB) LC cells. The electro-optical characteristics of the aligned homogenous LCs, and OCB mode cells based on the a-IGZO alignment layer were compared to those based on rubbing processed polyimide (PI). The results showed that the average transmittance in the visible wavelength range was higher than 90% for the a-IGZO alignment layer. The LC pretilt angle has been determined at about 6°. The evaluted cell critical voltage at maximum transmittance was 1.8 V, lower than the control cell using PI alignment layer. The OCB cell rise time and fall time were 1.55 ms and 3.49 ms, respectivly. A very quick response time of 5.04 ms has thus been achived. In addition, the study of V–T characteristics suggested higher contrast ratio for LCD display applications.

  20. Studi Disorder Lapisan Tipis Amorf Silikon Karbon (A-Sic:H Hasil Deposisi Metode Dc Sputtering

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rosari Saleh

    2002-08-01

    Full Text Available Disorder Study of Amorphous Silicon Carbon (a-SiC:H Films Deposited by DC Sputtering Method. Disorder amorphous network of amorphous silicon carbon (a-SiC:H films has been investigated for films prepared by dc sputtering method. The films were deposited using silicon target in argon and methane gas mixtures. The optical absorption coefficients have been performed by UV-VIS (ultra violet-visible reflectance and transmittance spectroscopy. Disorder parameter has been obtained from the optical absorption coefficient α (E using Tauc plot. Increasing methane flow rate has an effect on increasing Tauc gap and decreasing disorder parameter. The amorphous network of the films tends to be more disorder with increasing methane flow rate. The relation of disorder amorphous network with structural and compositional properties will be discussed.

  1. Deposition and characterization of TaAIN thin films by reactive magnetron sputtering; Deposicao e caracterizacao de filmes finos de TaAIN depositados por magnetron sputtering

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Oliveira, G.B.; Fernandez, D.R.; Fontes Junior, A.S.; Felix, L.C.; Tentardini, E.K. [Universidade Federal de Sergipe (UFS), Sao Cristovao, SE (Brazil). Departamento de Ciencia e Engenharia de Materiais; Hubler, R. [Pontificia Universidade Catolica do Rio Grande do Sul (PUC-RS), RS (Brazil); Silva Junior, A.H. da, E-mail: brito-g@hotmail.com [Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), RS (Brazil)

    2016-07-01

    Phase stability, oxidation resistance and great mechanical properties are the main objectives when synthesizing protective coatings. The tantalum nitride (TaN) has aroused interest because of its high temperature stability, chemical inertness and thermal conductivity. However, it has a low hardness value when compared to other coatings. Researches has shown that one way to improvements in the properties of a thin film is by adding other elements in the deposition process. Therefore, the objective of this study was to deposit thin films of TaAlN by magnetron sputtering, changing the aluminum concentration of 2, 5, 7, to 14%. Then the coatings were characterized by EDS, RBS, GIXRD and nanohardness. In this study was found that the aluminum deposited did not change the oxidation resistance of the coating, and the highest value of hardness was 28 GPa for the sample with 14 at.%. (author)

  2. CrN/AlN nanolaminate coatings deposited via high power pulsed and middle frequency pulsed magnetron sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bagcivan, N.; Bobzin, K.; Ludwig, A.; Grochla, D.; Brugnara, R.H.

    2014-01-01

    Nanolaminate coatings based on transition metal nitrides such as CrN, AlN and TiN deposited via physical vapor deposition (PVD) have shown great advantage as protective coatings on tools and components subject to high loads in tribological applications. By varying the individual layer materials and their thicknesses it is possible to optimize the coating properties, e.g. hardness, Young's modulus and thermal stability. One way for further improvement of coating properties is the use of advanced PVD technologies. High power pulsed magnetron sputtering (HPPMS) is an advancement of pulsed magnetron sputtering (MS). The use of HPPMS allows a better control of the energetic bombardment of the substrate due to the higher ionization degree of metallic species. It provides an opportunity to influence chemical and mechanical properties by varying the process parameters. The present work deals with the development of CrN/AlN nanolaminate coatings in an industrial scale unit by using two different PVD technologies. Therefore, HPPMS and mfMS (middle frequency magnetron sputtering) technologies were used. The bilayer period Λ, i.e. the thickness of a CrN/AlN double layer, was varied between 6.2 nm and 47.8 nm by varying the rotational speed of the substrate holders. In a second step the highest rotational speed was chosen and further HPPMS CrN/AlN coatings were deposited applying different HPPMS pulse lengths (40, 80, 200 μs) at the same mean cathode power and frequency. Thickness, morphology, roughness and phase composition of the coatings were analyzed by means of scanning electron microscopy (SEM), confocal laser microscopy, and X-ray diffraction (XRD), respectively. The chemical composition was determined using glow discharge optical emission spectroscopy (GDOES). Detailed characterization of the nanolaminate was conducted by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The hardness and the Young's modulus were analyzed by nanoindentation measurements. The residual

  3. Electrical and optical properties of indium tin oxide thin films deposited on unheated substrates by d.c. reactive sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Karasawa, T.; Miyata, Y.

    1993-01-01

    Transparent conducting thin films of indium tin oxide (ITO) have been deposited by d.c. reactive planar magnetron sputtering by using metal In-Sn alloy target in an Ar-O 2 gas mixture. The study demonstrates that the deposition on unheated substrates achieved sheet resistance of as low as about 50-60 Ω/□ (or a resistivity of about 7 x 10 -4 Ω cm), and visible transmission of about 90% for a wavelength of 420 nm. The effects of heat treatment at 450 C in air depends on the deposition conditions of the as-deposited ITO films. Although annealing improves the properties of as-deposited ITO films which were deposited with non-optimum conditions, the optimized condition for the formation of the film in the as-deposited state is essential to obtain a high quality transparent conducting coating. (orig.)

  4. Crystalline silicon films grown by pulsed dc magnetron sputtering

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Reinig, Peter; Fenske, Frank; Fuhs, Walther; Selle, Burkhardt [Hahn-Meitner-Institut Berlin, Abt. Silizium-Photovoltaik, Kekulestr. 5, D-12489 Berlin (Germany)

    2002-04-01

    Pulsed dc magnetron sputtering is used as a novel method for the deposition of crystalline silicon films on glass substrates. Hydrogen-free polycrystalline Si-films are deposited with high deposition rates at temperatures of 400-450 C and pulse frequencies f in the range 0-250 kHz. Strong preferential (100) orientation of the crystallites is observed with increasing f. High frequency and similarly high negative substrate bias cause an increase of the Ar content and an enhancement of structural disorder. Measurements of the transient floating potential suggest that the observed structural effects are related to bombardment of the growing film by Ar{sup +} ions of high energy.

  5. Electrical resistivity of sputtered molybdenum films

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nagano, J.

    1980-01-01

    The electrical resistivity of r.f. sputtered molybdenum films of thickness 5-150 nm deposited on oxidized silicon substrates was resolved into the three electron scattering components: isotropic background scattering, scattering at grain boundaries and scattering at surfaces. It was concluded that the isotropic background scattering is almost equal to that of bulk molybdenum and is not influenced by sputtering and annealing conditions. When the film thickness is sufficient that surface scattering can be ignored, the decrease in film resistivity after annealing is caused by the decrease in scattering at the grain boundaries for zero bias sputtered films, and is caused by an increase of the grain diameter for r.f. bias sputtered films. (Auth.)

  6. Deposition and characterization of NbAIN thin films by reactive magnetron sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Carvalho, R.G.; Felix, L.C.; Fernandez, D.A.R.; Fontes Junior, A.S.; Oliveira, G.B.; Tentardini, E.K.

    2016-01-01

    The objective of this work was to study NbAlN thin films and the influence of variation in the concentration of aluminum in the crystal structure and oxidation resistance of these coatings. The thin films were deposited by reactive magnetron sputtering and characterized by Grazing Incidence X-ray Diffraction (GIXRD), Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS) and oxidation tests at high temperatures. NbAlN thin films were deposited and present at concentration of 10, 20 and 42 at% Al. The NbAlN crystalline phase obtained was the δ-NbN, however it was observed a shift of the peaks in the patterns obtained GIXRD of regions for larger angles for these samples, indicating the formation of a solid solution. The higher oxidation resistance temperature was 700° C for the sample with 42 in at% Al. From the SEM analysis it was possible to observe the surface of the film after oxidation, all films showed defects, however the amount of such defects was lower in samples with higher aluminum concentrations. (author)

  7. Electrical resistivity change in Al:ZnO thin films dynamically deposited by bipolar pulsed direct-current sputtering and a remote plasma source

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yang, Wonkyun; Joo, Junghoon

    2010-01-01

    The Al-doped ZnO (AZO) thin films for a transparent conducting oxide in solar cell devices were deposited by bipolar pulsed dc magnetron sputtering. This work was performed in an in-line type system and investigated AZO films in a static deposition mode and dynamic one, which is more important in the practical fields. Because of this dynamic deposition process, the zigzagged columnar structure was observed. This resulted in the decreasing electrical property, optical properties, and surface roughness. As a deposition in the dynamic mode, the resistivity increased from 1.64x10 -3 to 2.50x10 -3 Ω cm, as compared to that in the static mode, and the transmittance also decreased from 83.9% to 78.3%. To recover the disadvantage, a remote plasma source (RPS) was supported between the substrate and target for reducing zigzagged formation during the deposition. The deposition rate decreased by using RPS, but the electrical and optical properties of films got better than only dynamic mode. The resistivity and transmittance in the dynamic mode using RPS were 2.1x10 -3 Ω cm and 85.5%, respectively. In this study, the authors found the possibility to advance the electrical and optical properties of AZO thin films in the industry mode.

  8. Effect of gas ratio on tribological properties of sputter deposited TiN coatings

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Chavda, Mahesh R., E-mail: maheshchavda1990@gmail.com [Department of Mechanical Engineering, Dr. Jivraj Mehta Institute of Technology, Mogar-388340 (India); Chauhan, Kamlesh V.; Rawal, Sushant K., E-mail: sushantrawal.me@charusat.ac.in [CHAMOS Matrusanstha Department of Mechanical Engineering, Chandubhai S. Patel Institute of Technology, Charotar University of Science and Technology (CHARUSAT), Changa-388421 (India)

    2016-05-06

    Titanium nitride (TiN) coatings were deposited on Si, corning glass, pins of mild steel (MS, ϕ3mm), aluminium (Al, ϕ4mm) and brass (ϕ6mm) substratesby DC magnetron sputtering. The argon and nitrogen (Ar:N{sub 2})gas ratio was precisely controlled by Mass Flow Controller (MFC) and was varied systematically at diffract values of 10:10,12:08, 16:04 and 18:02sccm. The structural properties of TiN coatings were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and its surface topography was studied using field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM). The tribological properties of TiN coatings were investigated using pin-on-disc tribometer.

  9. High-speed deposition of protective films of aluminium oxide by the method of reactive magnetron sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bugaev, S.P.; Zakhrov, A.N.; Ladyzhenskii, O.P.; Sochugov, M.S.

    2001-01-01

    The high optical characteristics of aluminium films made them attractive for different functional and decorative applications. It is well-known that the corrosion resistance of alloying is determined by the presence of the oxide film on its surface, but on the aluminium films, deposited by vacuum methods, the resistance is extremely low resulting in the relatively rapid failure of the coating. At present, there is a large number of methods of depositing the films of aluminium oxide. In most cases, it is recommended to use reactive magnetron sputtering of an aluminium target in a magnetron spraying system (MSS) using direct current, on dispersion of the target of aluminium oxide in a high-frequency MSS

  10. Optimization of aluminum-doped zinc oxide films deposited at low temperature by radio-frequency sputtering on flexible substrates for solar cell applications

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Fernandez, S. [Departamento de Energias Renovables, Energia Solar Fotovoltaica, Centro de Investigaciones Energeticas, Medioambientales y Tecnologicas (CIEMAT), Avda. Complutense 22, 28040 Madrid (Spain); Naranjo, F.B. [Grupo de Ingenieria Fotonica (GRIFO), Departamento de Electronica, Escuela Politecnica Superior, Universidad de Alcala, Campus Universitario, 28871 Alcala de Henares, Madrid (Spain)

    2010-02-15

    Aluminum-doped zinc oxide films were deposited at 100 C on polyethylene terephthalate by radio-frequency magnetron sputtering. The sputtering parameters such as RF power and Argon working pressure were varied from 25 to 125 W and from 1.1 to 0.2 Pa, respectively. The structural properties of as-deposited films were analysed by X-ray diffraction, showing that all the deposited films were polycrystalline, with hexagonal structure and a strong preferred c-axis orientation (0 0 2). Full width at half maximum and grain sizes were around 0.27 and ranged from 24 to 32 nm, respectively. The strain state of the samples was also estimated from X-ray diffraction measurements, obtaining compressive stresses from 0.29 to 0.05 GPa. Resistivity as low as 1.1 x 10{sup -3} {omega} cm was achieved for the film deposited at 75 W and 0.2 Pa, sample that showed a low strain state of -0.06 GPa. High optical transmittance ({proportional_to}80%) was exhibited when films were deposited at RF powers below 100 W. Band gap energies ranged from 3.36 to 3.39 eV and a refractive index of 1.80{+-}0.05, constant in the visible region, was also obtained. (author)

  11. Li ion transport in sputter deposited LiCoO{sub 2} thin films and glassy borate membranes

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Stockhoff, Tobias; Gallasch, Tobias; Schmitz, Guido [Westfaelische Wilhelms-Universitaet Muenster, Institut fuer Materialphysik, Muenster (Germany)

    2010-07-01

    LiCoO{sub 2} membranes are key components of current battery technology. We investigate sputter-deposited thin films of these materials aiming at the application in all-solid-state thin film batteries. For this, LiCoO{sub 2} films (10-200 nm) were deposited onto ITO-coated glass substrates by ion beam sputtering. In addition, a part of these films are coated by an ion-conductive membrane of Li{sub 2}O-B{sub 2}O{sub 3} glasses in the thickness range of 50 to 300 nm. Structural, chemical and electrical properties of the layers are studied by means of TEM(EELS) and various electrical methods (cyclic voltammetry, chrono-amperometry/-potentiometry). Since the color of the LiCoO{sub 2} films changes from red-brown to grey during de-intercalation of Li and the substrate as well as the glassy membrane deposited on top are optical transparent, reversible Li de- and intercalation can be directly demonstrated and quantified by a measurement of light transmission through the layered system. Samples coated with an ion-conductive membrane reveal a characteristic delay in switching optical transparency which is due to the slower transport across the membrane. Varying the thickness of the glassy membrane, the d.c. ion-conductivity and permeation through the membrane is determined quantitatively. Using thin membranes in the range of a few tens of nanometers the critical current densities are way sufficient for battery applications.

  12. The origin of stress in sputter-deposited tungsten films for x-ray masks

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Itoh, M.; Hori, M.; Nadahara, S.

    1991-01-01

    The mechanism for the cause of stress in a sputter-deposited tungsten (W) film has been clarified. The tensile stress of the film was calculated using the interatomic forces acting on the grain boundary. The average distance of the grain boundary gaps was determined from the measured film density assuming the film had homogeneous size rectangular grains. The calculated and measured stress values were in good agreement in the high working gas pressure region. The difference between these values in the low working gas pressure region has been able to be explained by the compressive stress due to the peening effect of Ar. The low stress in the high pressure region was obtained by large opened grain boundaries which produced low film density. A low film density causes a low x-ray stopping power. The film deposited in the low pressure region is suitable as an x-ray absorber because of its high film density

  13. Combinatorial study of low-refractive Mg-F-Si-O nano-composites deposited by magnetron co-sputtering from compound targets

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mertin, Stefan; Länzlinger, Tony; Sandu, Cosmin S.; Scartezzini, Jean-Louis; Muralt, Paul

    2018-03-01

    Deposition of nano-composite Mg-F-Si-O films on optical grade silica glass was studied employing RF magnetron co-sputtering from magnesium fluoride (MgF2) and fused silica (SiO2) targets. The aim was to obtain a stable and reliable sputtering process for optical coatings exhibiting a refractive index lower than the one of quartz glass (1.46 at 550 nm) without adding gaseous fluorine to the deposition process. The two magnetrons were installed in a confocal way at 45° off-axis with respect to a static substrate, thus creating a lateral gradient in the thin-film composition. The deposited Mg-F-Si-O coatings were structurally analysed by electron dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The obtained films consist of MgF2 nanocrystals embedded in a SiO2-rich amorphous matrix. Spectroscopic ellipsometry and spectrophotometry measurements showed that they are highly transparent exhibiting a very-low extinction coefficient k and a refractive index n in the desired range between the one of MgF2 (1.38) and SiO2 (1.46). Films with n = 1.424 and 1.435 at 550 nm were accomplished with absorption below the detection threshold.

  14. Deposition and characterization of IrOx nanofoils on carbon nanotube templates by reactive magnetron sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chen, Yi-Min; Cai, Jhen-Hong; Huang, Ying-Sheng; Lee, Kuei-Yi; Tsai, Dah-Shyang; Tiong, Kwong-Kau

    2012-01-01

    Large surface area IrO x nanofoils (IrO x NF) were deposited on multi-wall carbon nanotube (MWCNT) templates, forming IrO x /MWCNT nanocomposites, by reactive radio frequency magnetron sputtering using Ir metal target. The structural and spectroscopic properties of IrO x NF were characterized. The micrographs of field emission scanning electron microscopy showed the formation of foil-like structure for the as-deposited samples. Transmission electron microscopy analysis revealed the contiguous presence of glassy iridium oxide, iridium metal, and iridium dioxide nanocrystals in the foil. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis provided the information of the oxidation states and the stoichiometry of IrO x NF. Raman spectra revealed the amorphous-like phase of the as-deposited IrO x NF. The nanofoil structure provided ultra-high surface area for electrical charge storage which made the IrO x /MWCNT nanocomposites as an attractive candidate for the supercapacitor applications.

  15. Determining the sputter yields of molybdenum in low-index crystal planes via electron backscattered diffraction, focused ion beam and atomic force microscope

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Huang, H.S., E-mail: 160184@mail.csc.com.tw [New Materials Research and Development Department, China Steel Corporation, 1 Chung Kang Road, Hsiao Kang, Kaohsiung 812, Taiwan, ROC (China); Chiu, C.H.; Hong, I.T.; Tung, H.C. [New Materials Research and Development Department, China Steel Corporation, 1 Chung Kang Road, Hsiao Kang, Kaohsiung 812, Taiwan, ROC (China); Chien, F.S.-S. [Department of Physics, Tunghai University, 1727, Sec. 4, Xitun Dist., Taiwan Boulevard, Taichung 407, Taiwan, ROC (China)

    2013-09-15

    Previous literature has used several monocrystalline sputtering targets with various crystalline planes, respectively, to investigate the variations of the sputter yield of materials in different crystalline orientations. This study presents a method to measure the sputtered yields of Mo for the three low-index planes (100), (110), and (111), through using an easily made polycrystalline target. The procedure was firstly to use electron backscattered diffraction to identify the grain positions of the three crystalline planes, and then use a focused ion beam to perform the micro-milling of each identified grain, and finally the sputter yields were calculated from the removed volumes, which were measured by atomic force microscope. Experimental results showed that the sputter yield of the primary orientations for Mo varied as Y{sub (110)} > Y{sub (100)} > Y{sub (111)}, coincidental with the ranking of their planar atomic packing densities. The concept of transparency of ion in the crystalline substance was applied to elucidate these results. In addition, the result of (110) orientation exhibiting higher sputter yield is helpful for us to develop a Mo target with a higher deposition rate for use in industry. By changing the deformation process from straight rolling to cross rolling, the (110) texture intensity of the Mo target was significantly improved, and thus enhanced the deposition rate. - Highlights: • We used EBSD, FIB and AFM to measure the sputter yields of Mo in low-index planes. • The sputter yield of the primary orientations for Mo varied as Y{sub (110)} > Y{sub (100)} > Y{sub (111)}. • The transparency of ion was used to elucidate the differences in the sputter yield. • We improved the sputter rate of polycrystalline Mo target by adjusting its texture.

  16. Fabrication and characterization of implantable and flexible nerve cuff electrodes with Pt, Ir and IrOx films deposited by RF sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lee, Soo Hyun; Jung, Jung Hwan; Chae, Youn Mee; Kang, Ji Yoon; Suh, Jun-Kyo Francis

    2010-01-01

    This paper presents the fabrication and characterization of implantable and flexible nerve cuff electrodes for neural interfaces using the conventional BioMEMS technique. In order to fabricate a flexible nerve electrode, polyimide (PI) was chosen as the substrate material. Then, nerve electrodes were thermally re-formed in a cuff shape so as to increase the area in which the charges were transferred to the nerve. Platinum (Pt), iridium (Ir) and iridium oxide (IrO x ) films, which were to serve as conducting materials for the nerve electrodes, were deposited at different working pressures by RF magnetron sputtering. The electrochemical properties of the deposited films were characterized by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). The charge delivery capacities of the films were recorded and calculated by cyclic voltammetry (CV). The deposited films of Pt, Ir and IrO x have strong differences in electrochemical properties, which depend on the working pressure of sputter. Each film deposited at 30 mTorr of working pressure shows the highest value of charge delivery capacity (CDC). For the IrO x films, the electrochemical properties were strongly affected by the working pressure as well as the Ar:O 2 gas ratio. The IrO x film deposited with an Ar:O 2 gas ratio of 8:1 showed the highest CDC of 59.5 mC cm −2 , which was about five times higher than that of films deposited with a 1:1 gas ratio.

  17. Combined optical emission and resonant absorption diagnostics of an Ar-O{sub 2}-Ce-reactive magnetron sputtering discharge

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    El Mel, A.A. [Chimie des Interactions Plasma-Surface (ChIPS), Research Institute for Materials Science and Engineering, Université de Mons, Place du Parc 23, Mons B-7000 (Belgium); Institut des Matériaux Jean Rouxel, Université de Nantes, CNRS, 2 rue de la Houssinière B.P. 32229, Nantes Cedex 3 44322 (France); Ershov, S. [Chimie des Interactions Plasma-Surface (ChIPS), Research Institute for Materials Science and Engineering, Université de Mons, Place du Parc 23, Mons B-7000 (Belgium); Britun, N., E-mail: nikolay.britun@umons.ac.be [Chimie des Interactions Plasma-Surface (ChIPS), Research Institute for Materials Science and Engineering, Université de Mons, Place du Parc 23, Mons B-7000 (Belgium); Ricard, A. [Université de Toulouse, UPS, INPT, LAPLACE (Laboratoire Plasma et Conversion d' Energie), 118 route de Narbonne, Toulouse Cedex 9 F-31062 (France); Konstantinidis, S. [Chimie des Interactions Plasma-Surface (ChIPS), Research Institute for Materials Science and Engineering, Université de Mons, Place du Parc 23, Mons B-7000 (Belgium); Snyders, R. [Chimie des Interactions Plasma-Surface (ChIPS), Research Institute for Materials Science and Engineering, Université de Mons, Place du Parc 23, Mons B-7000 (Belgium); Materia Nova Research Center, Parc Initialis, Avenue Copernic 1, Mons B-7000 (Belgium)

    2015-01-01

    We report the results on combined optical characterization of Ar-O{sub 2}-Ce magnetron sputtering discharges by optical emission and resonant absorption spectroscopy. In this study, a DC magnetron sputtering system equipped with a movable planar magnetron source with a Ce target is used. The intensities of Ar, O, and Ce emission lines, as well as the absolute densities of Ar metastable and Ce ground state atoms are analyzed as a function of the distance from the magnetron target, applied DC power, O{sub 2} content, etc. The absolute number density of the Ar{sup m} is found to decrease exponentially as a function of the target-to-substrate distance. The rate of this decrease is dependent on the sputtering regime, which should be due to the different collisional quenching rates of Ar{sup m} by O{sub 2} molecules at different oxygen contents. Quantitatively, the absolute number density of Ar{sup m} is found to be equal to ≈ 3 × 10{sup 8} cm{sup −3} in the metallic, and ≈ 5 × 10{sup 7} cm{sup −3} in the oxidized regime of sputtering, whereas Ce ground state densities at the similar conditions are found to be few times lower. The absolute densities of species are consistent with the corresponding deposition rates, which decrease sharply during the transition from metallic to poisoned sputtering regime. - Highlights: • Optical emission and resonant absorption spectroscopy are employed to study Ar-O{sub 2}-Ce magnetron sputtering discharges. • The density of argon metastables is found to decrease exponentially when increasing the target-to-substrate distance. • The collision-quenching rates of Ar{sup m} by O{sub 2} molecules at different oxygen contents is demonstrated. • The deposition rates of cerium and cerium oxide thin films decrease sharply during the transition from the metallic to the poisoned sputtering regime.

  18. Polyester fabric coated with Ag/ZnO composite film by magnetron sputtering

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Yuan, Xiaohong, E-mail: yxhong1981_2004@126.com [Key Laboratory of Eco-Textiles, Ministry of Education, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122, Jiangsu (China); Faculty of Clothing and Design, Minjiang University, Fuzhou 350121, Fujian (China); Xu, Wenzheng, E-mail: xwz8199@126.com [Key Laboratory of Eco-Textiles, Ministry of Education, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122, Jiangsu (China); Huang, Fenglin, E-mail: windhuang325@163.com [Key Laboratory of Eco-Textiles, Ministry of Education, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122, Jiangsu (China); Chen, Dongsheng, E-mail: mjuchen@126.com [Faculty of Clothing and Design, Minjiang University, Fuzhou 350121, Fujian (China); Wei, Qufu, E-mail: qfwei@jiangnan.edu.cn [Key Laboratory of Eco-Textiles, Ministry of Education, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122, Jiangsu (China)

    2016-12-30

    Highlights: • Ag/ZnO composite film was successfully deposited on polyester fabric by magnetron sputtering technique. • Ag film was easily oxidized into Ag{sub 2}O film in high vacuum oxygen environment. • The zinc film coated on the surface of Ag film before RF reactive sputtering could protect the silver film from oxidation. • Polyester fabric coated with Ag/ZnO composite film can obtained structural color. • The anti-ultraviolet and antistatic properties of polyester fabric coated with Ag/ZnO composite film all were good. - Abstract: Ag/ZnO composite film was successfully deposited on polyester fabric by using direct current (DC) magnetron sputtering and radio frequency (RF) magnetron reaction sputtering techniques with pure silver (Ag) and zinc (Zn) targets. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) were used to examine the deposited film on the fabric. It was found that the zinc film coated on Ag film before RF reactive sputtering could protect the silver film from oxidation. Anti-ultraviolet property and antistatic property of the coated samples using different magnetron sputtering methods were also investigated. The experimental results showed that Ag film was oxidized into in Ag{sub 2}O film in high vacuum oxygen environment. The deposition of Zn film on the surface of the fabric coated with Ag film before RF reactive sputtering, could successfully obtained Ag/ZnO composite film, and also generated structural color on the polyester fabric.

  19. Bioactivity response of Ta_1_-_xO_x coatings deposited by reactive DC magnetron sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Almeida Alves, C.F.; Cavaleiro, A.; Carvalho, S.

    2016-01-01

    The use of dental implants is sometimes accompanied by failure due to periimplantitis disease and subsequently poor esthetics when soft–hard tissue margin recedes. As a consequence, further research is needed for developing new bioactive surfaces able to enhance the osseous growth. Tantalum (Ta) is a promising material for dental implants since, comparing with titanium (Ti), it is bioactive and has an interesting chemistry which promotes the osseointegration. Another promising approach for implantology is the development of implants with oxidized surfaces since bone progenitor cells interact with the oxide layer forming a diffusion zone due to its ability to bind with calcium which promotes a stronger bond. In the present report Ta-based coatings were deposited by reactive DC magnetron sputtering onto Ti CP substrates in an Ar + O_2 atmosphere. In order to assess the osteoconductive response of the studied materials, contact angle and in vitro tests of the samples immersed in Simulated Body Fluid (SBF) were performed. Structural results showed that oxide phases where achieved with larger amounts of oxygen (70 at.% O). More compact and smooth coatings were deposited by increasing the oxygen content. The as-deposited Ta coating presented the most hydrophobic character (100°); with increasing oxygen amount contact angles progressively diminished, down to the lowest measured value, 63°. The higher wettability is also accompanied by an increase on the surface energy. Bioactivity tests demonstrated that highest O-content coating, in good agreement with wettability and surface energy values, showed an increased affinity for apatite adhesion, with higher Ca/P ratio formation, when compared to the bare Ti substrates. - Highlights: • Ta_1_-_xO_x coatings were deposited by reactive DC magnetron sputtering. • Amorphous oxide phases were achieved with higher oxygen amounts. • Contact angles progressively diminished, with increasing oxygen content. • Ta oxide surface

  20. Bonding structure and morphology of chromium oxide films grown by pulsed-DC reactive magnetron sputter deposition

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Gago, R., E-mail: rgago@icmm.csic.es [Instituto de Ciencia de Materiales de Madrid, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, E-28049 Madrid (Spain); Vinnichenko, M. [Fraunhofer-Institut für Keramische Technologien und Systeme IKTS, D-01277 Dresden (Germany); Hübner, R. [Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden – Rossendorf, Institute of Ion Beam Physics and Materials Research, Bautzner Landstraße 400, 01328 Dresden (Germany); Redondo-Cubero, A. [Departamento de Física Aplicada and Centro de Microanálisis de Materiales, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, E-28049 Madrid (Spain)

    2016-07-05

    Chromium oxide (CrO{sub x}) thin films were grown by pulsed-DC reactive magnetron sputter deposition in an Ar/O{sub 2} discharge as a function of the O{sub 2} fraction in the gas mixture (ƒ) and for substrate temperatures, T{sub s}, up to 450 °C. The samples were analysed by Rutherford backscattering spectrometry (RBS), spectroscopic ellipsometry (SE), atomic force microscopy (AFM), scanning (SEM) and transmission (TEM) electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), and X-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES). On unheated substrates, by increasing ƒ the growth rate is higher and the O/Cr ratio (x) rises from ∼2 up to ∼2.5. Inversely, by increasing T{sub s} the atomic incorporation rate drops and x falls to ∼1.8. XRD shows that samples grown on unheated substrates are amorphous and that nanocrystalline Cr{sub 2}O{sub 3} (x = 1.5) is formed by increasing T{sub s}. In amorphous CrO{sub x}, XANES reveals the presence of multiple Cr environments that indicate the growth of mixed-valence oxides, with progressive promotion of hexavalent states with ƒ. XANES data also confirms the formation of single-phase nanocrystalline Cr{sub 2}O{sub 3} at elevated T{sub s}. These structural changes also reflect on the optical and morphological properties of the films. - Highlights: • XANES of CrO{sub x} thin films grown by pulsed-DC reactive magnetron sputtering. • Identification of mixed-valence amorphous CrO{sub x} oxides on unheated substrates. • Promotion of amorphous chromic acid (Cr{sup VI}) by increasing O{sub 2} partial pressure. • Production of single-phase Cr{sub 2}O{sub 3} films by increasing substrate temperature. • Correlation of bonding structure with morphological and optical properties.

  1. Deposition of the low resistive ITO-films by means of reactive magnetron sputtering of the In/Sn target on the cold substrate

    OpenAIRE

    Zhidik, Y. S.; Troyan, P. E.; Baturina, E. V.; Korzhenko, Dmitry Vladimirovich; Yuriev, Yuri Nikolaevich

    2016-01-01

    Detailed information on the deposition technology of the low-resistive ITO-films in oxygen-containing media by magnetron reactive sputtering from the In(90%)/Sn(10%) target on the cold substrate is given. Developed technology allows deposition ITO-films with sheet resistance transparency higher than 90%. Developed technology is notable for high reproducibility of results and is compatible with production technology of semiconductor devices of optoelectronics.

  2. Intermixing of InGaAs/GaAs quantum wells and quantum dots using sputter-deposited silicon oxynitride capping layers

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    McKerracher, Ian; Fu Lan; Hoe Tan, Hark; Jagadish, Chennupati

    2012-01-01

    Various approaches can be used to selectively control the amount of intermixing in III-V quantum well and quantum dot structures. Impurity-free vacancy disordering is one technique that is favored for its simplicity, however this mechanism is sensitive to many experimental parameters. In this study, a series of silicon oxynitride capping layers have been used in the intermixing of InGaAs/GaAs quantum well and quantum dot structures. These thin films were deposited by sputter deposition in order to minimize the incorporation of hydrogen, which has been reported to influence impurity-free vacancy disordering. The degree of intermixing was probed by photoluminescence spectroscopy and this is discussed with respect to the properties of the SiO x N y films. This work was also designed to monitor any additional intermixing that might be attributed to the sputtering process. In addition, the high-temperature stress is known to affect the group-III vacancy concentration, which is central to the intermixing process. This stress was directly measured and the experimental values are compared with an elastic-deformation model.

  3. Stress anisotropy and stress gradient in magnetron sputtered films with different deposition geometries

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhao, Z.B.; Yalisove, S.M.; Bilello, J.C.

    2006-01-01

    Mo films were deposited via magnetron sputtering with two different deposition geometries: dynamic deposition (moving substrate) and static deposition (fixed substrate). The residual stress and structural morphologies of these films were investigated, with particular focus on in-plane anisotropy of the biaxial stress and stress gradient across the film thickness. The results revealed that the Mo films developed distinct states of residual stress, which depended on both deposition geometry and film thickness. With the dynamic geometry, the Mo films generally exhibited anisotropic stress. Both the degree of anisotropy and the magnitude of stress varied as functions of film thickness. The variation of stress was linked to the evolution of anisotropic microstructures in the films. The Mo films from the static geometry developed isotropic residual stress, which was more compressive and noticeably larger in magnitude than that of the Mo films from the dynamic geometry. Aside from these disparities, the two types of Mo films (i.e., anisotropic and isotropic) exhibited notably similar trends of stress variation with film thickness. Depth profiling indicated the presence of large stress gradients for the Mo films, irrespective of the deposition geometries. This observation seems to be consistent with the premise that Mo films develop a zone T structure, which is inherently inhomogeneous along the film thickness. Moreover, the largest stress gradient for both types of deposition geometries arises at roughly the same film depth (∼240 nm from substrate), where the stresses sharply transits from highly compressive to less compressive or even tensile. This appears to correspond to the boundary region that separates two distinct stages of microstructural evolution, a feature unique to zone T-type structure

  4. Electrical and optical properties of nitrogen doped SnO2 thin films deposited on flexible substrates by magnetron sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fang, Feng; Zhang, Yeyu; Wu, Xiaoqin; Shao, Qiyue; Xie, Zonghan

    2015-01-01

    Graphical abstract: The best SnO 2 :N TCO film: about 80% transmittance and 9.1 × 10 −4 Ω cm. - Highlights: • Nitrogen-doped tin oxide film was deposited on PET by RF-magnetron sputtering. • Effects of oxygen partial pressure on the properties of thin films were investigated. • For SnO 2 :N film, visible light transmittance was 80% and electrical resistivity was 9.1 × 10 −4 Ω cm. - Abstract: Nitrogen-doped tin oxide (SnO 2 :N) thin films were deposited on flexible polyethylene terephthalate (PET) substrates at room temperature by RF-magnetron sputtering. Effects of oxygen partial pressure (0–4%) on electrical and optical properties of thin films were investigated. Experimental results showed that SnO 2 :N films were amorphous state, and O/Sn ratios of SnO 2 :N films were deviated from the standard stoichiometry 2:1. Optical band gap of SnO 2 :N films increased from approximately 3.10 eV to 3.42 eV as oxygen partial pressure increased from 0% to 4%. For SnO 2 :N thin films deposited on PET, transmittance was about 80% in the visible light region. The best transparent conductive oxide (TCO) deposited on flexible PET substrates was SnO 2 :N thin films preparing at 2% oxygen partial pressure, the transmittance was about 80% and electrical conductivity was about 9.1 × 10 −4 Ω cm

  5. Investigation of the electrocatalytic activity for oxygen reduction of sputter deposited mixed metal films

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Schumacher, L.C.; Holzheuter, I.B.; Nucara, M.C.; Dignam, M.J.

    1989-01-01

    Sputter-deposited films of silver with lead, manganese and nickel have been studied as possible oxygen reduction electrocatalysts using cyclic voltammetry, rotating disc studies, steady-state polarization and Auger analysis. In general, the Ag-Pb and Ag-Mn films display superior electrocatalytic activity for O 2 reduction, while the Ag-Ni films' performance is inferior to that of pure Ag. For the Ag-Pb films, which show the highest electrocatalytic activity, the mixed metal films display oxidation-reduction behavior which is not simply a superposition of that of the separate metals, and suggests a mechanism for the improved behavior

  6. Huge increase in gas phase nanoparticle generation by pulsed direct current sputtering in a reactive gas admixture

    Science.gov (United States)

    Polonskyi, Oleksandr; Peter, Tilo; Mohammad Ahadi, Amir; Hinz, Alexander; Strunskus, Thomas; Zaporojtchenko, Vladimir; Biederman, Hynek; Faupel, Franz

    2013-07-01

    Using reactive DC sputtering in a gas aggregation cluster source, we show that pulsed discharge gives rise to a huge increase in deposition rate of nanoparticles by more than one order of magnitude compared to continuous operation. We suggest that this effect is caused by an equilibrium between slight target oxidation (during "time-off") and subsequent sputtering of Ti oxides (sub-oxides) at "time-on" with high power impulse.

  7. Low temperature magnetron sputter deposition of polycrystalline silicon thin films using high flux ion bombardment

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gerbi, Jennifer E.; Abelson, John R.

    2007-01-01

    We demonstrate that the microstructure of polycrystalline silicon thin films depends strongly on the flux of low energy ions that bombard the growth surface during magnetron sputter deposition. The deposition system is equipped with external electromagnetic coils which, through the unbalanced magnetron effect, provide direct control of the ion flux independent of the ion energy. We report the influence of low energy ( + on the low temperature ( + ions to silicon neutrals (J + /J 0 ) during growth by an order of magnitude (from 3 to 30) enables the direct nucleation of polycrystalline Si on glass and SiO 2 coated Si at temperatures below 400 degree sign C. We discuss possible mechanisms for this enhancement of crystalline microstructure, including the roles of enhanced adatom mobility and the formation of shallow, mobile defects

  8. Hydrogen retention in carbon-tungsten co-deposition layer formed by hydrogen RF plasma

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Katayama, K.; Kawasaki, T.; Manabe, Y.; Nagase, H.; Takeishi, T.; Nishikawa, M.

    2006-01-01

    Carbon-tungsten co-deposition layers (C-W layers) were formed by sputtering method using hydrogen or deuterium RF plasma. The deposition rate of the C-W layer by deuterium plasma was faster than that by hydrogen plasma, where the increase of deposition rate of tungsten was larger than that of carbon. This indicates that the isotope effect on sputtering-depositing process for tungsten is larger than that for carbon. The release curve of hydrogen from the C-W layer showed two peaks at 400 deg. C and 700 deg. C. Comparing the hydrogen release from the carbon deposition layer and the tungsten deposition layer, it is considered that the increase of the release rate at 400 deg. C is affected by tungsten and that at 700 deg. C is affected by carbon. The obtained hydrogen retention in the C-W layers which have over 60 at.% of carbon was in the range between 0.45 and 0.16 as H/(C + W)

  9. Ion beam sputter deposited TiAlN films for metal-insulator-metal (Ba,Sr)TiO3 capacitor application

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lee, S.-Y.; Wang, S.-C.; Chen, J.-S.; Huang, J.-L.

    2008-01-01

    The present study evaluated the feasibility of TiAlN films deposited using the ion beam sputter deposition (IBSD) method for metal-insulator-metal (MIM) (Ba,Sr)TiO 3 (BST) capacitors. The BST films were crystallized at temperatures above 650 deg. C. TiAlN films deposited using the IBSD method were found having smooth surface and low electrical resistivity at high temperature conditions. TiAlN films showed a good diffusion barrier property against BST components. The J-E (current density-electric field) characteristics of Al/BST/TiAlN capacitors were good, with a high break down electric field of ± 2.5 MV/cm and a leakage current density of about 1 x 10 -5 A/cm 2 at an applied field of ± 0.5 MV/cm. Thermal stress and lateral oxidation that occurred at the interface damaged the capacitor stacking structure. Macro holes that dispersed on the films resulted in higher leakage current and inconsistent J-E characteristics. Vacuum annealing with lower heating rate and furnace cooling, and a Ti-Al adhesion layer between TiAlN and the SiO 2 /Si substrate can effectively minimize the stress effect. TiAlN film deposited using IBSD can be considered as a potential electrode and diffusion barrier material for MIM BST capacitors

  10. Production of Au clusters by plasma gas condensation and their incorporation in oxide matrixes by sputtering

    Science.gov (United States)

    Figueiredo, N. M.; Serra, R.; Manninen, N. K.; Cavaleiro, A.

    2018-05-01

    Gold clusters were produced by plasma gas condensation method and studied in great detail for the first time. The influence of argon flow, discharge power applied to the Au target and aggregation chamber length on the size distribution and deposition rate of Au clusters was evaluated. Au clusters with sizes between 5 and 65 nm were deposited with varying deposition rates and size dispersion curves. Nanocomposite Au-TiO2 and Au-Al2O3 coatings were then deposited by alternating sputtering. These coatings were hydrophobic and showed strong colorations due to the surface plasmon resonance effect. By simulating the optical properties of the nanocomposites it was possible to identify each individual contribution to the overall surface plasmon resonance signal. These coatings show great potential to be used as high performance localized surface plasmon resonance sensors or as robust self-cleaning decorative protective layers. The hybrid method used for depositing the nanocomposites offers several advantages over co-sputtering or thermal evaporation processes, since a broader range of particle sizes can be obtained (up to tens of nanometers) without the application of any thermal annealing treatments and the properties of clusters and matrix can be controlled separately.

  11. Assessing Reliability of Cold Spray Sputter Targets in Photovoltaic Manufacturing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hardikar, Kedar; Vlcek, Johannes; Bheemreddy, Venkata; Juliano, Daniel

    2017-10-01

    Cold spray has been used to manufacture more than 800 Cu-In-Ga (CIG) sputter targets for deposition of high-efficiency photovoltaic thin films. It is a preferred technique since it enables high deposit purity and transfer of non-equilibrium alloy states to the target material. In this work, an integrated approach to reliability assessment of such targets with deposit weight in excess of 50 lb. is undertaken, involving thermal-mechanical characterization of the material in as-deposited condition, characterization of the interface adhesion on cylindrical substrate in as-deposited condition, and developing means to assess target integrity under thermal-mechanical loads during the physical vapor deposition (PVD) sputtering process. Mechanical characterization of cold spray deposited CIG alloy is accomplished through the use of indentation testing and adaptation of Brazilian disk test. A custom lever test was developed to characterize adhesion along the cylindrical interface between the CIG deposit and cylindrical substrate, overcoming limitations of current standards. A cohesive zone model for crack initiation and propagation at the deposit interface is developed and validated using the lever test and later used to simulate the potential catastrophic target failure in the PVD process. It is shown that this approach enables reliability assessment of sputter targets and improves robustness.

  12. Electrochromism and photocatalysis in dendrite structured Ti:WO3 thin films grown by sputtering

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Karuppasamy, A., E-mail: karuppasamy@psnacet.edu.in

    2015-12-30

    Graphical abstract: - Highlights: • Dendrite structured Ti doped WO{sub 3} (WTO) thin films are grown by co-sputtering. • Sputtering condition influences structure and surface morphology of WTO films. • Titanium doping and annealing lead to dendritic surface structures in WTO films. • Structural, optical, electrochromic and photocatalytic properties of WTO films. • Enhanced electrochromism and photocatalysis in dendrite structured WTO thin films. - Abstract: Titanium doped tungsten oxide (Ti:WO{sub 3}) thin films with dendrite surface structures were grown by co-sputtering titanium and tungsten in Ar + O{sub 2} atmosphere. Ti:WO{sub 3} thin films were deposited at oxygen flow rates corresponding to pressures in the range 1.0 × 10{sup −3}–5.0 × 10{sup −3} mbar. Argon flow rate and sputtering power densities for titanium (2 W/cm{sup 2}) and tungsten (3 W/cm{sup 2}) were kept constant. Ti:WO{sub 3} films deposited at an oxygen pressure of 5 × 10{sup −3} mbar are found to be better electrochromic and photocatalytic. They have high optical modulation (80% at λ = 550 nm), coloration efficiency (60 cm{sup 2}/C at λ = 550 nm), electron/ion storage and removal capacity (Qc: −22.01 mC/cm{sup 2}, Qa: 17.72 mC/cm{sup 2}), reversibility (80%) and methylene blue decomposition rate (−1.38 μmol/l d). The combined effects of titanium doping, dendrite surface structures and porosity leads to significant enhancement in the electrochromic and photocatalytic properties of Ti:WO{sub 3} films.

  13. Electrochromism and photocatalysis in dendrite structured Ti:WO3 thin films grown by sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Karuppasamy, A.

    2015-01-01

    Graphical abstract: - Highlights: • Dendrite structured Ti doped WO 3 (WTO) thin films are grown by co-sputtering. • Sputtering condition influences structure and surface morphology of WTO films. • Titanium doping and annealing lead to dendritic surface structures in WTO films. • Structural, optical, electrochromic and photocatalytic properties of WTO films. • Enhanced electrochromism and photocatalysis in dendrite structured WTO thin films. - Abstract: Titanium doped tungsten oxide (Ti:WO 3 ) thin films with dendrite surface structures were grown by co-sputtering titanium and tungsten in Ar + O 2 atmosphere. Ti:WO 3 thin films were deposited at oxygen flow rates corresponding to pressures in the range 1.0 × 10 −3 –5.0 × 10 −3 mbar. Argon flow rate and sputtering power densities for titanium (2 W/cm 2 ) and tungsten (3 W/cm 2 ) were kept constant. Ti:WO 3 films deposited at an oxygen pressure of 5 × 10 −3 mbar are found to be better electrochromic and photocatalytic. They have high optical modulation (80% at λ = 550 nm), coloration efficiency (60 cm 2 /C at λ = 550 nm), electron/ion storage and removal capacity (Qc: −22.01 mC/cm 2 , Qa: 17.72 mC/cm 2 ), reversibility (80%) and methylene blue decomposition rate (−1.38 μmol/l d). The combined effects of titanium doping, dendrite surface structures and porosity leads to significant enhancement in the electrochromic and photocatalytic properties of Ti:WO 3 films.

  14. Investigation of CaTiO3:Pr3+ thin films deposited by radiofrequency reactive magnetron sputtering for electroluminescence application

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sarakha, L; Bousquet, A; Tomasella, E; Boutinaud, P; Mahiou, R

    2010-01-01

    In this report we successfully deposited thin films of CaTiO 3 :Pr 3+ by radiofrequency magnetron sputtering. The films were studied and we tried to understand the evolution of their optical and electrical properties. We noticed that the annealing temperature and the deposition pressures have an important influence on these properties. Thin films with good optical and electrical properties have been obtained. These films are transparent and are characterized by an intense red photoluminescence and a low fixed charge density. They are well dedicated for electroluminescence purposes.

  15. Crystal Structure And Optical Properties Of TiO2 Thin Films Prepared By Reactive RF Magnetron Sputtering

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Goto S.

    2015-06-01

    Full Text Available In sputtering deposition process of TiO2, metal Ti or sintered TiO2 target is used as deposition source. In this study, we have compared the characteristic of target materials. When TiO2 target was used, stoichiometric TiO2 films was deposited under the Ar atmosphere containing 1.0% of oxygen. The highest sputtering rate under this atmosphere was 3.9nm/min at 3.4W/cm2. But, sintered TiO2 target is fragile and cannot endure higher density of input power than 3.4W/cm2. On the other hand, Ti target needs higher oxygen concentration (8% in sputtering gas atmosphere for obtaining rutile/anatase. Even though Ti target can be input twice power density of 7.9W/cm2, the highest deposition rate for Ti target was 1.4/nm, which was ~35% of the highest rate for TiO2 target. Then we have study out the composite target consisting of Ti plate and TiO2 chips. Using the composite target, stoichiometric TiO2 films were prepared in the rate of 9.6nm/min at 6.8 W/cm2 under the atmosphere of Ar/2.5%O2. Furthermore, we have found that the TiO2 films obtained from the composite target consisted of about 100% anatase, whereas TiO2 films obtained from other target have rutile dominant structure. The optical band gap energy of the film is determined by using the Tauc plot. The calculated band gap energies for the films deposited by Ti target and composite target were 2.95 and 3.24eV, which are equivalent to that of rutile and anatase structure, respectively.

  16. Electrophoretic Deposition of Gallium with High Deposition Rate

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hanfei Zhang

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available In this work, electrophoretic deposition (EPD is reported to form gallium thin film with high deposition rate and low cost while avoiding the highly toxic chemicals typically used in electroplating. A maximum deposition rate of ~0.6 μm/min, almost one order of magnitude higher than the typical value reported for electroplating, is obtained when employing a set of proper deposition parameters. The thickness of the film is shown to increase with deposition time when sequential deposition is employed. The concentration of Mg(NO32, the charging salt, is also found to be a critical factor to control the deposition rate. Various gallium micropatterns are obtained by masking the substrate during the process, demonstrating process compatibility with microfabrication. The reported novel approach can potentially be employed in a broad range of applications with Ga as a raw material, including microelectronics, photovoltaic cells, and flexible liquid metal microelectrodes.

  17. Structure, optical properties and thermal stability of HfErO films deposited by simultaneous RF and VHF magnetron sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhang, H.Y.; He, H.J.; Zhang, Z.; Jin, C.G.; Yang, Y.; Wang, Y.Y.; Ye, C.; Zhuge, L.J.; Wu, X.M.

    2015-01-01

    HfErO films are deposited on Si substrates by simultaneous radio frequency (RF) and very high frequency (VHF) magnetron sputtering technique. The content of the doped ingredient of Er and the body composition of HfO x are, respectively, controlled through the VHF and RF powers. Low content of Er doping in the HfErO films can be achieved, because the VHF source of 27.12 MHz has higher ion energy and lower ion flux than the RF source resulting in low sputtering rate in the magnetron sputtering system. The structure, optical properties and thermal stability of the HfErO films are investigated in this work. Results show that the doped content of Er is independently controlled by the VHF power. The oxygen vacancies are created by the Er incorporation. The hafnium in the HfErO films forms mixed valence of Hf 2+ and Hf 4+ . The HfErO films are composed with the structures of HfO 2 , HfO and ErO x , which can be optimized through the VHF power. At high VHF power, the Hf-Er-O bonds are formed, which demonstrates that the Er atoms are doped into the lattice of HfO 2 in the HfErO films. The HfErO films have bad thermal stability as the crystallization temperature decreases from 900 to 800 C. After thermal annealing, cubic phase of HfO 2 are stabilized, which is ascribed to the oxygen vacancies creation by the Er incorporation. The optical properties such as the refractive index and the optical band gap of the HfErO films are optimized by the VHF power. (orig.)

  18. Optimal conditions for the deposition of novel anticorrosive coatings by RF magnetron sputtering for aluminum alloy AA6082

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Brachetti-Sibaja, S.B.; Domínguez-Crespo, M.A.; Rodil, S.E.; Torres-Huerta, A.M.

    2014-01-01

    Highlights: • Non-conventional technique for improving the corrosion resistance of aluminum alloys. • Effect of the deposition parameters: power, substrate temperature and deposition time. • Changes in the crystallinity of the coatings are observed with the temperature. • The structure of these coatings is found to be dependent on the nature of the substrate. • La coatings can provide a better physical barrier to inhibit the corrosion attack. - Abstract: Cerium and lanthanum coatings were deposited on glass, silicon (1 0 0), and aluminum alloy by RF magnetron sputtering in which several experimental conditions such as power, substrate temperature, and deposition time were varied, using pure CeO 2 and La 2 O 3 targets. The effect of deposition parameters on the bonding structure, surface morphology and properties against corrosion of rare earth (RE) coatings formed on metallic substrate was reported. The microstructure and chemistry of the thin film were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS); whereas their use as corrosion resistant coatings was studied in aqueous NaCl solution (3.0 wt%) by using polarization curves. Variations in these properties were observed by increasing the substrate temperature which modifies the crystallinity of the rare earth coatings. XRD and XPS findings indicate that the cerium coatings are composed by CeO 2 and a significant quantity of Ce 2 O 3 due to oxygen deficiency in the sputtering chamber, whereas La 2 O 3 /La(OH) 3 and some La intermetallic compounds are detected in the lanthanum films. Variations in the E corr and I corr were found as a function of the thickness, texture, and morphology of the as-prepared coatings

  19. Annealing effects on the ferromagnetic resonance linewidths of sputter-deposited Fe{sub 100−x}Co{sub x}(001) thin films (x < 11)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kusaoka, A.; Kimura, J.; Takahashi, Y., E-mail: takahasy@yz.yamagata-u.ac.jp; Inaba, N. [Graduate School of Science and Engineering, Yamagata University, Yonezawa, Yamagata 992-8510 (Japan); Kirino, F. [Graduate School of Fine Arts, Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music, Tokyo 110-8714 (Japan); Ohtake, M.; Futamoto, M. [Faculty of Science and Engineering, Chuo University, Tokyo 112-8551 (Japan)

    2015-05-07

    Effects of post-growth annealing on the magnetic damping of 3d transition alloy thin films were investigated. Fe{sub 100−x}Co{sub x} (x < 11 at. %) thin films were epitaxially deposited on GaAs(001) substrates by rf magnetron sputtering, and some of them were annealed without exposing to atmosphere. Electrical measurement showed that in-plane resistivity was smaller in the annealed films than in the as-deposited ones, indicating that the annealing mitigates crystalline imperfections and leads to reduced electron scattering rates. Magnetic damping was evaluated by the peak widths of ferromagnetic resonance (FMR) spectra obtained by a conventional Q-band spectrometer. Comparison of as-deposited and annealed specimens showed that the damping was decreased by annealing. Combined with the electrical and FMR measurements, these observations are consistent with the theoretical predictions that crystalline imperfections strongly influence the magnetic damping, both in intrinsic and extrinsic origins.

  20. Co-deposition of silver nanoclusters and sputtered alumina for sensor devices

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Schultes, Guenter; Schmidt, Michael; Truar, Marcel; Goettel, Dirk; Freitag-Weber, Olivia; Werner, Ulf

    2007-01-01

    Heterogeneous thin films may be beneficial for sensoring devices. The electrical conductivity of nanoscale metallic particles being embedded in a matrix of non conducting material should exhibit higher sensitivity to mechanical stress and strain compared to homogeneous films. The production of heterogeneous films may follow different routes. This paper describes the attempt to embed Ag nanoclusters emitted from a gas aggregation cluster source into a growing matrix of alumina originating from sputter sources. The characteristics of the cluster source are first resumed, with their mean masses ranging from approx. 1000 to 100,000 atoms per cluster. The expelled and soft landed clusters are extensively examined by transmission electron microscopy verifying their crystalline form. Yet the use of a radio frequency driven sputter source for the embed material destroys and annihilates the Ag clusters even at very low sputter power. If a reactive direct current sputter process is performed within an oxidising sputter gas instead, the Ag clusters are oxidised to different oxides, but they survive as crystalline entities as verified by X-ray diffraction investigations. A simple subsequent heat treatment reduces the Ag oxides to metallic Ag clusters

  1. Deposition of the low resistive ITO-films by means of reactive magnetron sputtering of the In/Sn target on the cold substrate

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhidik, Y. S.; Troyan, P. E.; Baturina, E. V.; Korzhenko, D. V.; Yurjev, Y. N.

    2016-06-01

    Detailed information on the deposition technology of the low-resistive ITO-films in oxygen-containing media by magnetron reactive sputtering from the In(90%)/Sn(10%) target on the cold substrate is given. Developed technology allows deposition ITO-films with sheet resistance 2-3 Ω/□, transparency higher than 90%. Developed technology is notable for high reproducibility of results and is compatible with production technology of semiconductor devices of optoelectronics.

  2. H2 splitting on Pt, Ru and Rh nanoparticles supported on sputtered HOPG

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Fiordaliso, Elisabetta Maria; Murphy, Shane; Nielsen, R.M.

    2012-01-01

    The equilibrium hydrogen exchange rate between adsorbed and gas phase hydrogen at 1bar is measured for Pt, Ru and Rh nanoparticles supported on a sputtered HOPG substrate. The particles are prepared by Electron Beam Physical Vapor Deposition and the diameter of the particles varies between 2 and ...

  3. Bismuth nanowire growth under low deposition rate and its ohmic contact free of interface damage

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ye Tian

    2012-03-01

    Full Text Available High quality bismuth (Bi nanowire and its ohmic contact free of interface damage are quite desired for its research and application. In this paper, we propose one new way to prepare high-quality single crystal Bi nanowires at a low deposition rate, by magnetron sputtering method without the assistance of template or catalyst. The slow deposition growth mechanism of Bi nanowire is successfully explained by an anisotropic corner crossing effect, which is very different from existing explanations. A novel approach free of interface damage to ohmic contact of Bi nanowire is proposed and its good electrical conductivity is confirmed by I-V characteristic measurement. Our method provides a quick and convenient way to produce high-quality Bi nanowires and construct ohmic contact for desirable devices.

  4. Properties of TiO{sub 2} thin films deposited by rf reactive magnetron sputtering on biased substrates

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Nezar, Sawsen, E-mail: snezar@cdta.dz [Equipe Plasma & Applications, Division des Milieux Ionisés et Lasers, Centre de Développement des Technologies Avancées, Cité du 20 Aout 1956, Baba Hassen, Alger (Algeria); Laboratoire des phénomènes de transfert, génie chimique, Faculté de Génie des procèdes, USTHB, BP 32 El-alia, Bab Ezzouar, Alger (Algeria); Saoula, Nadia [Equipe Plasma & Applications, Division des Milieux Ionisés et Lasers, Centre de Développement des Technologies Avancées, Cité du 20 Aout 1956, Baba Hassen, Alger (Algeria); Sali, Samira [Centre de Recherche en Technologie des Semi-conducteurs pour l’Energétique (CRTSE Algiers) (Algeria); Faiz, Mohammed; Mekki, Mogtaba [Physics Department, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Dhahran (Saudi Arabia); Laoufi, Nadia Aïcha [Laboratoire des phénomènes de transfert, génie chimique, Faculté de Génie des procèdes, USTHB, BP 32 El-alia, Bab Ezzouar, Alger (Algeria); Tabet, Nouar [Qatar Environment and Energy Research Institute, Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU), Doha (Qatar)

    2017-02-15

    Highlights: • TiO{sub 2} thin films were deposited on negatively biased substrates by rf magnetron sputtering technique. • The bias favors the formation of TiO{sub 2} crystalline phase. • The roughness of the films increases and the grain size decreases as the bias voltage is varied between (0 and −100 V). • XPS reveals the presence of adsorbed humidity of the surface and Ti{sup 4+} oxidation state in the as prepared samples. - Abstract: TiO{sub 2} thin films are of paramount importance due to their pervasive applications. In contrast to previous published works where the substrate was heated at high temperatures to obtain TiO{sub 2} crystalline phase, we show in this study that it is possible to deposit crystalline TiO{sub 2} thin films on biased and unbiased substrate at room temperature using reactive rf magnetron sputtering. The bias voltage was varied from 0 V to −100 V. The deposited films were characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), UV–vis spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The average crystallite size was estimated using x-ray diffraction. The results showed that the application of negative bias affects the surface roughness of the films and favors the formation of the rutile phase. The root mean square roughness (R{sub rms}), the average grain size and the optical band gap of the films decreased as the substrate bias voltage was varied from 0 to −100 V. The UV–visible transmittance spectra showed that the films were transparent in the visible range and absorb strongly in the UV range. This study shows that biasing the substrate could be a promising and effective alternative to deposit TiO{sub 2} crystallized thin films of engineered properties at room temperature.

  5. Marbled texture of sputtered Al/Si alloy thin film on Si

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Gentile, M.G. [Physics Department and NIS Interdepartmental Center, University of Torino, via P. Giuria 1, 10125 Torino (Italy); Vishay Intertechnology, Diodes Division, Via Liguria 49, 10071 Borgaro Torinese, Turin (Italy); Muñoz-Tabares, J.A.; Chiodoni, A. [Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Center for Space Human Robotics, Corso Trento 21, 10129 Torino (Italy); Sgorlon, C. [Vishay Intertechnology, Diodes Division, Via Liguria 49, 10071 Borgaro Torinese, Turin (Italy); Para, I. [Department of Applied Science and Technology (DISAT), Politecnico di Torino, Corso Duca degli Abruzzi 24, 10129 Torino (Italy); Carta, R.; Richieri, G. [Vishay Intertechnology, Diodes Division, Via Liguria 49, 10071 Borgaro Torinese, Turin (Italy); Bejtka, K. [Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Center for Space Human Robotics, Corso Trento 21, 10129 Torino (Italy); Merlin, L. [Vishay Intertechnology, Diodes Division, Via Liguria 49, 10071 Borgaro Torinese, Turin (Italy); Vittone, E. [Physics Department and NIS Interdepartmental Center, University of Torino, via P. Giuria 1, 10125 Torino (Italy)

    2016-08-01

    DC magnetron sputtering is a commonly used technique for the fabrication of silicon based electronic devices, since it provides high deposition rates and uniform large area metallization. However, in addition to the thickness uniformity, coating optical uniformity is a crucial need for semiconductor industrial processes, due to the wide use of optical recognition tools. In the silicon-based technology, aluminum is one of the most used materials for the metal contact. Both the pre-deposition substrate cleaning and the sputtering conditions determine the quality and the crystalline properties of the final Al deposited film. In this paper is shown that not all the mentioned conditions lead to good quality and uniform Al films. In particular, it is shown that under certain standard process conditions, Al/Si alloy (1% Si) metallization on a [100] Si presents a non-uniform reflectivity, with a marbled texture caused by flakes with milky appearance. This optical inhomogeneity is found to be caused by the coexistence of randomly orient Al/Si crystal, with heteroepitaxial Al/Si crystals, both grown on Si substrate. Based on the microstructural analysis, some strategies to mitigate or suppress this marbled texture of the Al thin film are proposed and discussed. - Highlights: • Sputtered Al/Si layers deposited on Si present evident optical non-uniformity • It could be an issue for optical recognition tools used in semiconductor industries • Optical non-uniformity is due to randomly oriented growth of Al grains. • Substrate misorientation and process temperature can mitigate the problem.

  6. Process for the fabrication of aluminum metallized pyrolytic graphite sputtering targets

    Science.gov (United States)

    Makowiecki, Daniel M.; Ramsey, Philip B.; Juntz, Robert S.

    1995-01-01

    An improved method for fabricating pyrolytic graphite sputtering targets with superior heat transfer ability, longer life, and maximum energy transmission. Anisotropic pyrolytic graphite is contoured and/or segmented to match the erosion profile of the sputter target and then oriented such that the graphite's high thermal conductivity planes are in maximum contact with a thermally conductive metal backing. The graphite contact surface is metallized, using high rate physical vapor deposition (HRPVD), with an aluminum coating and the thermally conductive metal backing is joined to the metallized graphite target by one of four low-temperature bonding methods; liquid-metal casting, powder metallurgy compaction, eutectic brazing, and laser welding.

  7. Antibacterial effects of silver-doped hydroxyapatite thin films sputter deposited on titanium

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Trujillo, Nathan A.; Oldinski, Rachael A.; Ma, Hongyan; Bryers, James D.; Williams, John D.; Popat, Ketul C.

    2012-01-01

    Since many orthopedic implants fail as a result of loosening, wear, and inflammation caused by repeated loading on the joints, coatings such as hydroxyapatite (HAp) on titanium with a unique topography have been shown to improve the interface between the implant and the natural tissue. Another serious problem with long-term or ideally permanent implants is infection. It is important to prevent initial bacterial colonization as existing colonies have the potential to become encased in an extracellular matrix polymer (biofilm) that is resistant to antibacterial agents. In this study, plasma-based ion implantation was used to examine the effects of pre-etching on plain titanium. Topographical changes to the titanium samples were examined and compared via scanning electron microscopy. Hydroxyapatite and silver-doped hydroxyapatite thin films were then sputter deposited on titanium substrates etched at − 700 eV. For silver-doped films, two concentrations of silver (∼ 0.5 wt.% and ∼ 1.5 wt.%) were used. Silver concentrations in the film were determined using energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. Hydroxyapatite film thicknesses were determined by measuring the surface profile using contact profilometry. Staphylococcus epidermidis and Pseudomonas aeruginosa adhesion studies were performed on plain titanium, titanium coated with hydroxyapatite, titanium coated with ∼ 0.5 wt.% silver-doped hydroxyapatite, and titanium coated with ∼ 1.5 wt.% silver-doped hydroxyapatite. Results indicate that less bacteria adhered to surfaces containing hydroxyapatite and silver; further, as the hydroxyapatite films delaminated, silver ions were released which killed bacteria in suspension. - Highlights: ► We have developed a combination of plasma-based ion implantation and ion beam sputter deposition technique. ► Silver-doped hydroxyapatite thin films on titanium were developed. ► The thin films showed the ability to control the concentration of silver that is doped within the

  8. Optical emission studies of atomic and ionic species in the ionized sputter-deposition process of magnesium oxide thin films

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Matsuda, Y.; Koyama, Y.; Iwaya, M.; Shinohara, M.; Fujiyama, H.

    2005-01-01

    Planar magnetron (PM) power and ICP-RF power dependences of the optical emission intensities of excited atomic and ionic species in the reactive ionized sputter-deposition of magnesium oxide (MgO) thin films were investigated. With the increase in PM power at constant ICP-RF power, Mg I emission intensity increased and Ar I emission intensity gradually decreased. With the increase in ICP-RF power at constant PM power, the Mg I emission intensity increased at lower ICP-RF power and then gradually decreased at higher ICP-RF power; on the contrary, Ar I emission intensity monotonically increased. Emission intensity of atomic oxygen was negligibly small compared with those of Mg I and Ar I under the metallic sputtering mode condition

  9. Experimental studies of thin films deposition by magnetron sputtering method for CIGS solar cell fabrication

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gułkowski, Sławomir; Krawczak, Ewelina

    2017-10-01

    Among a variety of the thin film solar cell technologies of second generation, copper-indium-gallium-diselenide device (CIGS) with the latest highest lab cell efficiency record of 22.4 % seems to be the most promising for the power generation. This is partly due to the advantages of using low cost films of few microns thick not only as a metallic contacts but also as a main structure of the solar cell consisted of high quality semiconductor layers. This paper reports the experimental studies of the CIGS absorber formation on Soda Lime Glass substrate covered by thin molybdenum film as a back contact layer. All structures were deposited with the use of magnetron sputtering method only. Technological parameters of the deposition process such as deposition power, pressure and deposition time were optimized for each layer of the structure. Mo back contact was examined in terms of resistivity. EDS measurements were carried out to verify stoichiometric composition of CIGS absorber. Thin film of Al was used as a top contact in order to examine the quality of p-n junction. The I-V electrical characteristic of the p-n junction was analysed in terms of solar cell application.

  10. Low temperature rf sputtering deposition of (Ba, Sr) TiO3 thin film with crystallization enhancement by rf power supplied to the substrate

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yoshimaru, Masaki; Takehiro, Shinobu; Abe, Kazuhide; Onoda, Hiroshi

    2005-01-01

    The (Ba, Sr) TiO 3 thin film deposited by radio frequency (rf) sputtering requires a high deposition temperature near 500 deg. C to realize a high relative dielectric constant over of 300. For example, the film deposited at 330 deg. C contains an amorphous phase and shows a low relative dielectric constant of less than 100. We found that rf power supplied not only to the (Ba, Sr) TiO 3 sputtering target, but also to the substrate during the initial step of film deposition, enhanced the crystallization of the (Ba, Sr) TiO 3 film drastically and realized a high dielectric constant of the film even at low deposition temperatures near 300 deg. C. The 50-nm-thick film with only a 10 nm initial layer deposited with the substrate rf biasing is crystallized completely and shows a high relative dielectric constant of 380 at the deposition temperature of 330 deg. C. The (Ba, Sr) TiO 3 film deposited at higher temperatures (upwards of 400 deg. C) shows preferred orientation, while the film deposited at 330 deg. C with the 10 nm initial layer shows a preferred orientation on a -oriented ruthenium electrode. The unit cell of (Ba, Sr) TiO 3 (111) plane is similar to that of ruthenium (001) plane. We conclude that the rf power supplied to the substrate causes ion bombardments on the (Ba, Sr) TiO 3 film surface, which assists the quasiepitaxial growth of (Ba, Sr) TiO 3 film on the ruthenium electrode at low temperatures of less than 400 deg. C

  11. Low temperature rf sputtering deposition of (Ba, Sr) TiO3 thin film with crystallization enhancement by rf power supplied to the substrate

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yoshimaru, Masaki; Takehiro, Shinobu; Abe, Kazuhide; Onoda, Hiroshi

    2005-05-01

    The (Ba, Sr) TiO3 thin film deposited by radio frequency (rf) sputtering requires a high deposition temperature near 500 °C to realize a high relative dielectric constant over of 300. For example, the film deposited at 330 °C contains an amorphous phase and shows a low relative dielectric constant of less than 100. We found that rf power supplied not only to the (Ba, Sr) TiO3 sputtering target, but also to the substrate during the initial step of film deposition, enhanced the crystallization of the (Ba, Sr) TiO3 film drastically and realized a high dielectric constant of the film even at low deposition temperatures near 300 °C. The 50-nm-thick film with only a 10 nm initial layer deposited with the substrate rf biasing is crystallized completely and shows a high relative dielectric constant of 380 at the deposition temperature of 330 °C. The (Ba, Sr) TiO3 film deposited at higher temperatures (upwards of 400 °C) shows preferred orientation, while the film deposited at 330 °C with the 10 nm initial layer shows a preferred orientation on a -oriented ruthenium electrode. The unit cell of (Ba, Sr) TiO3 (111) plane is similar to that of ruthenium (001) plane. We conclude that the rf power supplied to the substrate causes ion bombardments on the (Ba, Sr) TiO3 film surface, which assists the quasiepitaxial growth of (Ba, Sr) TiO3 film on the ruthenium electrode at low temperatures of less than 400 °C.

  12. Target surface condition during reactive glow discharge sputtering of copper

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Depla, D; Haemers, J; Gryse, R De

    2002-01-01

    During reactive glow discharge sputtering of copper in an argon/nitrogen plasma, we noticed an abrupt change of the target voltage and the deposition rate when the nitrogen concentration in the plasma exceeds a critical value. To explain this behaviour, the target surface after reactive glow discharge sputtering was examined by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). An experimental arrangement was constructed that allows direct transfer of the glow discharge cathode to the XPS analysis chamber without air exposure. These XPS measurements revealed that several different chemical states of nitrogen are present in the layer that forms on the target surface. The relative concentration of these different states changes when the critical nitrogen concentration in the plasma is exceeded

  13. Cell adhesion on NiTi thin film sputter-deposited meshes

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Loger, K. [Inorganic Functional Materials, Institute for Materials Science, Faculty of Engineering, University of Kiel (Germany); Engel, A.; Haupt, J. [Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, University Hospital of Schleswig-Holstein, Kiel (Germany); Li, Q. [Biocompatible Nanomaterials, Institute for Materials Science, Faculty of Engineering, University of Kiel (Germany); Lima de Miranda, R. [Inorganic Functional Materials, Institute for Materials Science, Faculty of Engineering, University of Kiel (Germany); ACQUANDAS GmbH, Kiel (Germany); Quandt, E. [Inorganic Functional Materials, Institute for Materials Science, Faculty of Engineering, University of Kiel (Germany); Lutter, G. [Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, University Hospital of Schleswig-Holstein, Kiel (Germany); Selhuber-Unkel, C. [Biocompatible Nanomaterials, Institute for Materials Science, Faculty of Engineering, University of Kiel (Germany)

    2016-02-01

    Scaffolds for tissue engineering enable the possibility to fabricate and form biomedical implants in vitro, which fulfill special functionality in vivo. In this study, free-standing Nickel–Titanium (NiTi) thin film meshes were produced by means of magnetron sputter deposition. Meshes contained precisely defined rhombic holes in the size of 440 to 1309 μm{sup 2} and a strut width ranging from 5.3 to 9.2 μm. The effective mechanical properties of the microstructured superelastic NiTi thin film were examined by tensile testing. These results will be adapted for the design of the holes in the film. The influence of hole and strut dimensions on the adhesion of sheep autologous cells (CD133 +) was studied after 24 h and after seven days of incubation. Optical analysis using fluorescence microscopy and scanning electron microscopy showed that cell adhesion depends on the structural parameters of the mesh. After 7 days in cell culture a large part of the mesh was covered with aligned fibrous material. Cell adhesion is particularly facilitated on meshes with small rhombic holes of 440 μm{sup 2} and a strut width of 5.3 μm. Our results demonstrate that free-standing NiTi thin film meshes have a promising potential for applications in cardiovascular tissue engineering, particularly for the fabrication of heart valves. - Highlights: • Freestanding NiTi thin film scaffolds were fabricated with magnetron sputtering process. • Effective mechanical properties of NiTi scaffolds can be adapted by the mesh structure parameters. • Cell adhesion on the NiTi thin film scaffold is controlled by the structure parameters of the mesh. • Cells strongly adhere after seven days and form a confluent layer on the mesh.

  14. Cell adhesion on NiTi thin film sputter-deposited meshes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Loger, K.; Engel, A.; Haupt, J.; Li, Q.; Lima de Miranda, R.; Quandt, E.; Lutter, G.; Selhuber-Unkel, C.

    2016-01-01

    Scaffolds for tissue engineering enable the possibility to fabricate and form biomedical implants in vitro, which fulfill special functionality in vivo. In this study, free-standing Nickel–Titanium (NiTi) thin film meshes were produced by means of magnetron sputter deposition. Meshes contained precisely defined rhombic holes in the size of 440 to 1309 μm 2 and a strut width ranging from 5.3 to 9.2 μm. The effective mechanical properties of the microstructured superelastic NiTi thin film were examined by tensile testing. These results will be adapted for the design of the holes in the film. The influence of hole and strut dimensions on the adhesion of sheep autologous cells (CD133 +) was studied after 24 h and after seven days of incubation. Optical analysis using fluorescence microscopy and scanning electron microscopy showed that cell adhesion depends on the structural parameters of the mesh. After 7 days in cell culture a large part of the mesh was covered with aligned fibrous material. Cell adhesion is particularly facilitated on meshes with small rhombic holes of 440 μm 2 and a strut width of 5.3 μm. Our results demonstrate that free-standing NiTi thin film meshes have a promising potential for applications in cardiovascular tissue engineering, particularly for the fabrication of heart valves. - Highlights: • Freestanding NiTi thin film scaffolds were fabricated with magnetron sputtering process. • Effective mechanical properties of NiTi scaffolds can be adapted by the mesh structure parameters. • Cell adhesion on the NiTi thin film scaffold is controlled by the structure parameters of the mesh. • Cells strongly adhere after seven days and form a confluent layer on the mesh.

  15. Transport theory of sputtering I: Depth of origin of sputtered atoms

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhang, Z.L.

    1999-01-01

    Sputter theory employing a sum of two power cross sections has been implemented. Compared with the well known Lindhard power cross section (V∝r -1/m ), a sum of two such cross sections can give a much better approximation to the Born-Mayer scattering in the low energy region (m ∼ 0.1). By using both one and two power cross sections, we have solved the linear transport equations describing the sputtering problem asymptotically. As usual, electronic stopping is ignored in the analysis. It has further been proved that Falcone's theory of the atom ejection process contradicts transport theory. The Andersen-Sigmund relation for partial sputtering yield ratios between two elements in an arbitrary multicomponent target has been derived by both methods. The energy deposited in the target surface layers has been computed for a few typical ion-target combinations. The numerical curves show that both theories generate almost the same results (error <10%) for m=3D0.2. It is also shown that, if the sputtering yield equals the corresponding one in Sigmund's theory, the depth of origin of sputtered atoms must be shorter than in Sigmund's theory for 0.25 m ≥ 3D 0. The former even may be only about one half of the latter as long as m=3D0. (Copyright (c) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V., Amsterdam. All rights reserved.)

  16. Photoluminescence optimization of Er-doped SiO{sub 2} films synthesized by radiofrequency magnetron sputtering with energetic treatments during and after deposition

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Cattaruzza, E., E-mail: cattaruz@unive.it; Battaglin, G.; Trave, E.; Visentin, F.

    2011-06-01

    By radiofrequency magnetron sputtering co-deposition we synthesized Er:SiO{sub 2} film 0.5 {mu}m thick on silica substrates, with Er content < 0.3 atomic %. By changing the preparation condition (during deposition we have used an additional negative bias voltage applied to the substrates for inducing a low-energy ion bombardment, with or without a contemporary heating) and by varying the thermal treatment after the synthesis (the best conditions were 1 h in the range 700-800 deg. C, in air) we have obtained an Er:SiO{sub 2} system with an intense photoluminescence emission at {lambda} = 1.54 {mu}m. The best-performing Er:SiO{sub 2} samples obtained by sputtering have shown a photoluminescence response comparable to that of the typical Er:SiO{sub 2} thin film systems obtained by conventional techniques used in applicative framework.

  17. Reactive physical vapor deposition of TixAlyN: Integrated plasma-surface modeling characterization

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhang Da; Schaeffer, J.K.

    2004-01-01

    Reactive physical vapor deposition (RPVD) has been widely applied in the microelectronic industry for producing thin films. Fundamental understanding of RPVD mechanisms is needed for successful process development due to the high sensitivity of film properties on process conditions. An integrated plasma equipment-target nitridation modeling infrastructure for RPVD has therefore been developed to provide mechanistic insights and assist optimal process design. The target nitridation model computes target nitride coverage based on self-consistently derived plasma characteristics from the plasma equipment model; target sputter yields needed in the plasma equipment model are also self-consistently derived taking into account the yield-suppressing effect from nitridation. The integrated modeling infrastructure has been applied to investigating RPVD processing with a Ti 0.8 Al 0.2 compound target and an Ar/N 2 gas supply. It has been found that the process produces athermal metal neutrals as the primary deposition precursor. The metal stoichiometry in the deposited film is close to the target composition due to the predominance of athermal species in the flux that reaches the substrate. Correlations between process parameters (N 2 flow, target power), plasma characteristics, surface conditions, and deposition kinetics have been studied with the model. The deposition process is characterized by two regimes when the N 2 flow rate is varied. When N 2 is dilute relative to argon, target nitride coverage increases rapidly with increasing N 2 flow. The sputter yield and deposition rate consequently decrease. For less dilute N 2 mixtures, the sputter yield and deposition rate are stable due to the saturation of target nitridation. With increasing target power, the electron density increases nearly linearly while the variation of N generation is much smaller. Target nitridation and its suppression of the sputter yield saturate at high N 2 flow rendering these parameters

  18. Excimer laser processing of inkjet-printed and sputter-deposited transparent conducting SnO2:Sb for flexible electronics

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cranton, Wayne M.; Wilson, Sharron L.; Ranson, Robert; Koutsogeorgis, Demosthenes C.; Chi Kuangnan; Hedgley, Richard; Scott, John; Lipiec, Stephen; Spiller, Andrew; Speakman, Stuart

    2007-01-01

    The feasibility of low-temperature fabrication of transparent electrode elements from thin films of antimony-doped tin oxide (SnO 2 :Sb, ATO) has been investigated via inkjet printing, rf magnetron sputtering and post-deposition excimer laser processing. Laser processing of thin films on both glass and plastic substrates was performed using a Lambda Physik 305i excimer laser, with fluences in the range 20-100 mJ cm -2 reducing sheet resistance from as-deposited values by up to 3 orders of magnitude. This is consistent with TEM analysis of the films that shows a densification of the upper 200 nm of laser-processed regions

  19. Effects of oxygen contents on the electrochromic properties of tungsten oxide films prepared by reactive magnetron sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lu, H.-H.

    2008-01-01

    The electrochromism have been extensively investigated due to their potential applications such as smart window of architecture and automobile glazing to save energy and modulate the transmittance of light and solar radiation. The objective of this study is to investigate the effects of sputtering conditions on the microstructure and electrochromic properties of tungsten oxide films prepared by dc reactive magnetron sputtering. Experimental results showed that the deposition rate of WO 3-y films decreased with increasing oxygen flow rate. XRD and Raman spectra analysis suggests that the WO 3-y films deposited at various oxygen flow rates are poor crystallinity or amorphous. The transmission change between colored and bleached states at a wavelength of 550 nm was 61.4% as the oxygen content was 60%. The coloration efficiency slightly increases with increasing oxygen flow rate in the low oxygen content region and reaching a maximum value of 38.94 cm 2 /C at 60% oxygen content. In addition, the films deposited at 60% oxygen content showed a good reversibility. The effects of lithium ions intercalated on the transmission of WO 3-y films were also discussed

  20. Structure evolution of zinc oxide thin films deposited by unbalance DC magnetron sputtering

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Aryanto, Didik, E-mail: didi027@lipi.go.id [Research Center for Physics, Indonesian Institute of Sciences, Serpong 15314, Tangerang Selatan (Indonesia); Materials Research Group, Physics Department, Universitas Negeri Semarang, Gunungpati, Semarang 50229 Jawa Tengah (Indonesia); Marwoto, Putut; Sugianto [Physics Department, Faculty of Mathematics and Science, Universitas Negeri Semarang, Gunungpati, Semarang 50229 Jawa Tengah (Indonesia); Materials Research Group, Physics Department, Universitas Negeri Semarang, Gunungpati, Semarang 50229 Jawa Tengah (Indonesia); Sudiro, Toto [Research Center for Physics, Indonesian Institute of Sciences, Serpong 15314, Tangerang Selatan (Indonesia); Birowosuto, Muhammad D. [Research Center for Physics, Indonesian Institute of Sciences, Serpong 15314, Tangerang Selatan (Indonesia); CINTRA UMI CNRS/NTU/THALES 3288 Research Techno Plaza, 50 Nanyang Drive, Border X Block, level 6, 637553 (Singapore); Sulhadi [Physics Department, Faculty of Mathematics and Science, Universitas Negeri Semarang, Gunungpati, Semarang 50229 Jawa Tengah (Indonesia)

    2016-04-19

    Zinc oxide (ZnO) thin films are deposited on corning glass substrates using unbalanced DC magnetron sputtering. The effect of growth temperature on surface morphology and crystallographic orientation of ZnO thin film is studied using atomic force microscopy (AFM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) techniques. The surface morphology and crystallographic orientation of ZnO thin film are transformed against the increasing of growth temperature. The mean grain size of film and the surface roughness are inversely and directly proportional towards the growth temperature from room temperature to 300 °C, respectively. The smaller grain size and finer roughness of ZnO thin film are obtained at growth temperature of 400 °C. The result of AFM analysis is in good agreement with the result of XRD analysis. ZnO thin films deposited in a series of growth temperatures have hexagonal wurtzite polycrystalline structures and they exhibit transformations in the crystallographic orientation. The results in this study reveal that the growth temperature strongly influences the surface morphology and crystallographic orientation of ZnO thin film.

  1. Ultraviolet emitting (Y1-xGd x)2O3-δ thin films deposited by radio frequency magnetron sputtering; structure-property-thin film processing relationships

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fowlkes, J.D.; Fitz-Gerald, J.M.; Rack, P.D.

    2007-01-01

    The effects that the oxygen partial pressure, substrate temperature and annealing temperature have on the cathodoluminescence (CL) efficiency of radio frequency magnetron sputter deposited Gd-doped Y 2 O 3 thin films is investigated. Furthermore these sputtering parameters are correlated to the degree of crystallinity, the phases present (cubic (α) versus monoclinic (β) Y 2 O 3 ), and the stoichiometry of the thin films. Films deposited at room temperature (RT) did not CL, however, the films were activated by a post-deposition anneal at 1273 K for 6 h. Films deposited at 873 K had a very low CL efficiency which was significantly enhanced by a post-deposition anneal. For RT deposited films the external CL efficiency increased with increasing oxygen partial pressure for the range studied, however the opposite trend was observed for the 873 K deposited films. Examination of the morphology and grain size of the high temperature deposited films revealed that the average grain size increased with decreasing partial pressure and the observed increase in the external CL efficiency was attributed to enhanced anomalous diffraction. An intrinsic CL efficiency term was determined to circumvent the effects of the enhanced anomalous diffraction, and the CL efficiency was correlated to the integrated intensity of the (222) of the cubic α-Y 2 O 3 phase

  2. Ion beam sputter deposited TiAlN films for metal-insulator-metal (Ba,Sr)TiO{sub 3} capacitor application

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lee, S.-Y. [Department of Materials Science and Engineering, National Cheng Kung University, No. 1, Ta-Hsueh Road, Tainan, Taiwan (China); Wang, S.-C. [Department of Mechanical Engineering, Southern Taiwan University of Technology, No. 1, Nantai St, Yung-Kang City, Tainan, Taiwan (China); Chen, J.-S. [Department of Materials Science and Engineering, National Cheng Kung University, No. 1, Ta-Hsueh Road, Tainan, Taiwan (China); Huang, J.-L. [Department of Materials Science and Engineering, National Cheng Kung University, No. 1, Ta-Hsueh Road, Tainan, Taiwan (China)], E-mail: jlh888@mail.ncku.edu.tw

    2008-09-01

    The present study evaluated the feasibility of TiAlN films deposited using the ion beam sputter deposition (IBSD) method for metal-insulator-metal (MIM) (Ba,Sr)TiO{sub 3} (BST) capacitors. The BST films were crystallized at temperatures above 650 deg. C. TiAlN films deposited using the IBSD method were found having smooth surface and low electrical resistivity at high temperature conditions. TiAlN films showed a good diffusion barrier property against BST components. The J-E (current density-electric field) characteristics of Al/BST/TiAlN capacitors were good, with a high break down electric field of {+-} 2.5 MV/cm and a leakage current density of about 1 x 10{sup -5} A/cm{sup 2} at an applied field of {+-} 0.5 MV/cm. Thermal stress and lateral oxidation that occurred at the interface damaged the capacitor stacking structure. Macro holes that dispersed on the films resulted in higher leakage current and inconsistent J-E characteristics. Vacuum annealing with lower heating rate and furnace cooling, and a Ti-Al adhesion layer between TiAlN and the SiO{sub 2}/Si substrate can effectively minimize the stress effect. TiAlN film deposited using IBSD can be considered as a potential electrode and diffusion barrier material for MIM BST capacitors.

  3. Checkerboard deposition of lithium manganese oxide spinel (LiMn2O4) by RF magnetron sputtering on a stainless steel in all-solid-state thin film battery

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hsueh, T. H.; Yu, Y. Q.; Jan, D. J.; Su, C. H.; Chang, S. M.

    2018-03-01

    All-solid-state thin film lithium batteries (TFLBs) are the most competitive low-power sources to be applied in various kinds of micro-electro-mechanical systems and have been draw a lot of attention in academic research. In this paper, the checkerboard deposition of all-solid-state TFLB was composed of thin film lithium metal anode, lithium phosphorus oxynitride (LiPON) solid electrolyte, and checkerboard deposition of lithium manganese oxide spinel (LiMn2O4) cathode. The LiPON and LiMn2O4 were deposited by a radio frequency magnetron sputtering system, and the lithium metal was deposited by a thermal evaporation coater. The electrochemical characterization of this lithium battery showed the first discharge capacity of 107.8 μAh and the capacity retention was achieved 95.5% after 150 charge-discharge cycles between 4.3V and 3V at a current density of 11 μA/cm2 (0.5C). Obviously, the checkerboard of thin film increased the charge exchange rate; also this lithium battery exhibited high C-rate performance, with better capacity retention of 82% at 220 μA/cm2 (10C).

  4. High temperature superconducting films by rf magnetron sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kadin, A.M.; Ballentine, P.H.

    1989-01-01

    The authors have produced sputtered films of Y-Ba-Cu-O and Bi-Sr-Ca-Cu-O by rf magnetron sputtering from an oxide target consisting of loose reacted powder. The use of a large 8-inch stoichiometric target in the magnetron mode permits films located above the central region to be free of negative-ion resputtering effects, and hence yields reproducible, uniform stoichiometric compositions for a wide range of substrate temperatures. Superconducting YBCO films have been obtained either by sputtering at low temperatures followed by an 850 0 C oxygen anneal, or alternatively by depositing onto substrates heated to ∼600 - 650 0 C and cooling in oxygen. Films prepared by the former method on cubic zirconia substrate consist of randomly oriented crystallites with zero resistance above 83 K. Those deposited on zirconia at medium temperatures without the high-temperature anneal contain smooth partially oriented crystallites, with a slightly depressed T/sub c/ ∼75K. Finally, superconducting films have been deposited on MgO using a BiSrCaCu/sub 2/O/sub x/ powder target

  5. Effect of deposition time of sputtering Ag-Cu thin film on mechanical and antimicrobial properties

    Science.gov (United States)

    Purniawan, A.; Hermastuti, R.; Purwaningsih, H.; Atmono, T. M.

    2018-04-01

    Metallic implants are important components in biomedical treatment. However, post-surgery infection often occurs after installation of implant. The infections are usually treated by antibiotics, but it still causes several secondary problems. As a prevention treatment, the surgical instruments and implants must be in a sterile condition. This action is still not optimal too because the material still can attract the bacteria. From material science point of view, it can be anticipated by developing a type of material which has antibacterial properties or called antimicrobial material. Silver (Ag) and Copper (Cu) have antimicrobial properties to prevent the infection. In this research, the influence of deposition time of Ag-Cu thin film deposition process as antimicrobial material with Physical Vapor Deposition (PVD) RF Sputtering method was analyzed. Deposition time used were for 10, 15 and 20 minutes in Argon gas pressure around 3 x 10-2 mbar in during deposition process. The morphology and surface roughness of Ag-Cu thin film were characterized using SEM and AFM. Based on the results, the deposition time influences the quality morphology that the thin films have good homogeneity and complete structure for longer deposition time. In addition, from roughness measurement results show that increase deposition time decrease the roughness of thin film. Antimicrobial performance was analyzed using Kirby Bauer Test. The results show that all of sample have good antimicrobial inhibition. Adhesion quality was evaluated using Rockwell C Indentation Test. However, the results indicate that the Ag-Cu thin film has low adhesion strength.

  6. Preparation of Pb(Zr, Ti)O3 Thin Films by Plasma-Assisted Sputtering

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hioki, Tsuyoshi; Akiyama, Masahiko; Ueda, Tomomasa; Onozuka, Yutaka; Suzuki, Kouji

    1999-09-01

    A novel plasma-assisted RF magnetron sputtering system with an immersed coil antenna between a target and a substrate was applied for preparing Pb(Zr, Ti)O3 (PZT) thin films. The antenna enabled the generation of inductively coupled plasma (ICP) independently of the target RF source. The plasma assisted by the antenna resulted in the changes of ion fluxes and these energy distributions irradiating to the substrate. The crystalline phase of the deposited PZT thin films was occupied by the perovskite phase depending on the antenna power. In addition, a high deposition rate, modified uniformity of film thickness, and a dense film structure with large columnar grains were obtained as a result of effects of the assisted plasma. The application of the plasma-assisted sputtering method may enable the preparation of PZT thin films that haveexcellent properties.

  7. Structure, optical properties and thermal stability of HfErO films deposited by simultaneous RF and VHF magnetron sputtering

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Zhang, H.Y. [Soochow University, College of Physics, Optoelectronics and Energy and Collaborative Innovation Center of Suzhou Nano Science and Technology, Suzhou (China); Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications, School of Tongda, Nanjing (China); Soochow University, Key Lab of Advanced Optical Manufacturing Technologies of Jiangsu Province and Key Lab of Modern Optical Technologies of Education Ministry of China, Suzhou (China); He, H.J.; Zhang, Z.; Jin, C.G.; Yang, Y.; Wang, Y.Y.; Ye, C. [Soochow University, College of Physics, Optoelectronics and Energy and Collaborative Innovation Center of Suzhou Nano Science and Technology, Suzhou (China); Soochow University, Key Lab of Advanced Optical Manufacturing Technologies of Jiangsu Province and Key Lab of Modern Optical Technologies of Education Ministry of China, Suzhou (China); Zhuge, L.J. [Soochow University, Key Lab of Advanced Optical Manufacturing Technologies of Jiangsu Province and Key Lab of Modern Optical Technologies of Education Ministry of China, Suzhou (China); Soochow University, Analysis and Testing Center, Suzhou (China); Wu, X.M. [Soochow University, College of Physics, Optoelectronics and Energy and Collaborative Innovation Center of Suzhou Nano Science and Technology, Suzhou (China); Soochow University, Key Lab of Advanced Optical Manufacturing Technologies of Jiangsu Province and Key Lab of Modern Optical Technologies of Education Ministry of China, Suzhou (China); Chinese Academy of Sciences, State Key Laboratory of Functional Materials for Informatics, Shanghai Institute of Microsystem and Information Technology, Shanghai (China)

    2015-01-23

    HfErO films are deposited on Si substrates by simultaneous radio frequency (RF) and very high frequency (VHF) magnetron sputtering technique. The content of the doped ingredient of Er and the body composition of HfO{sub x} are, respectively, controlled through the VHF and RF powers. Low content of Er doping in the HfErO films can be achieved, because the VHF source of 27.12 MHz has higher ion energy and lower ion flux than the RF source resulting in low sputtering rate in the magnetron sputtering system. The structure, optical properties and thermal stability of the HfErO films are investigated in this work. Results show that the doped content of Er is independently controlled by the VHF power. The oxygen vacancies are created by the Er incorporation. The hafnium in the HfErO films forms mixed valence of Hf{sup 2+} and Hf{sup 4+}. The HfErO films are composed with the structures of HfO{sub 2}, HfO and ErO{sub x}, which can be optimized through the VHF power. At high VHF power, the Hf-Er-O bonds are formed, which demonstrates that the Er atoms are doped into the lattice of HfO{sub 2} in the HfErO films. The HfErO films have bad thermal stability as the crystallization temperature decreases from 900 to 800 C. After thermal annealing, cubic phase of HfO{sub 2} are stabilized, which is ascribed to the oxygen vacancies creation by the Er incorporation. The optical properties such as the refractive index and the optical band gap of the HfErO films are optimized by the VHF power. (orig.)

  8. Hydroxyapatite thin films synthesized by pulsed laser deposition and magnetron sputtering on PMMA substrates for medical applications

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Socol, G.; Macovei, A.M.; Miroiu, F.; Stefan, N.; Duta, L.; Dorcioman, G.; Mihailescu, I.N.; Petrescu, S.M.; Stan, G.E.; Marcov, D.A.; Chiriac, A.; Poeata, I.

    2010-01-01

    Functionalized implants represent an advanced approaching in implantology, aiming to improve the biointegration and the long-term success of surgical procedures. We report on the synthesis of hydroxyapatite (HA) thin films on polymethylmetacrylate (PMMA) substrates - used as cranio-spinal implant-type structures - by two alternative methods: pulsed laser deposition (PLD) and radio-frequency magnetron sputtering (MS). The deposition parameters were optimized in order to avoid the substrate overheating. Stoichiometric HA structures were obtained by PLD with incident laser fluences of 1.4-2.75 J/cm 2 , pressures of 30-46.66 Pa and 10 Hz pulses repetition rate. The MS depositions were performed at constant pressure of 0.3 Pa in inert and reactive atmospheres. SEM-EDS, XRD, FTIR and pull-out measurements were performed assessing the apatitic-type structure of the prepared films along with their satisfactory mechanical adhesion. Cell viability, proliferation and adhesion tests in osteosarcoma SaOs2 cell cultures were performed to validate the bioactive behaviour of the structures and to select the most favourable deposition regimes. For PLD, this requires a low fluence of 1.4 J/cm 2 , reduced pressure of water vapours and a 100 o C/4 h thermal treatment. For MS, the best results were obtained for 80% Ar + 20% O 2 reactive atmosphere at low RF power (∼75 W). Cells grown on these coatings exhibit behaviour similar to those grown on the standard borosilicate glass control: increased viability, good proliferation, and optimal cell adhesion. In vitro tests proved that HA/PMMA neurosurgical structures prepared by PLD and MS are compatible for the interaction with human bone cells.

  9. Deposition and characterization of ZrMoN thin films by reactive magnetron sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fontes Junir, A.S.; Felix, L.C.; Oliveira, G.B. de; Fernandez, D.R.; Carvalho, R.G.; Tentardini, E.K.; Silva Junior, A.H. da

    2016-01-01

    Thin films of ZrMoN were deposited by magnetron reactive sputtering technique in order to study the molybdenum influence on the mechanical properties and oxidation resistance of these coatings. Three thin films with molybdenum concentrations from 25 to 40 at.% were selected. The displacement of characteristic peaks of ZrN where identified by GIXRD results of films with larger Mo content. This result is indicative of the Mo accommodation in the lattice structure. Hardness tests revealed favorable results with values up to 33 GPa. Oxidation tests showed that ZrN oxidized at 500 °C with a monoclinic ZrO 2 and tetragonal formation; whereas the thin films with Mo addition impeded the formation of the monoclinic ZrO 2 phase at partial oxidation. (author)

  10. DC sputter deposition of amorphous indium-gallium-zinc-oxide (a-IGZO) films with H2O introduction

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Aoi, Takafumi; Oka, Nobuto; Sato, Yasushi; Hayashi, Ryo; Kumomi, Hideya; Shigesato, Yuzo

    2010-01-01

    Amorphous indium-gallium-zinc-oxide (a-IGZO) films were deposited by dc magnetron sputtering with H 2 O introduction and how the H 2 O partial pressure (P H 2 O ) during the deposition affects the electrical properties of the films was investigated in detail. Resistivity of the a-IGZO films increased dramatically to over 2 x 10 5 Ωcm with increasing P H 2 O to 2.7 x 10 -2 Pa while the hydrogen concentration in the films increased to 2.0 x 10 21 cm -3 . TFTs using a-IGZO channels deposited under P H 2 O at 1.6-8.6 x 10 -2 Pa exhibited a field-effect mobility of 1.4-3.0 cm 2 /Vs, subthreshold swing of 1.0-1.6 V/decade and on-off current ratio of 3.9 x 10 7 -1.0 x 10 8 .

  11. C-axis orientated AlN films deposited using deep oscillation magnetron sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lin, Jianliang; Chistyakov, Roman

    2017-01-01

    Highlights: • Highly orientated AlN films were deposited by DOMS technique. • Controlled ion flux bombardment improved the texture and crystalline quality. • Excessive ion bombardment showed a detrimental effect on the c-axis orientation growth. • Improved c-axis alignment accompanied with stress relaxation with increasing film thickness. - Abstract: Highly c-axis orientated aluminum nitride (AlN) films were deposited on silicon (100) substrates by reactive deep oscillation magnetron sputtering (DOMS). No epitaxial favored bond layer and substrate heating were applied for assisting texture growth. The effects of the peak target current density (varied from 0.39 to 0.8 Acm"−"2) and film thickness (varied from 0.25 to 3.3 μm) on the c-axis orientation, microstructure, residual stress and mechanical properties of the AlN films were investigated by means of X-ray diffraction rocking curve methodology, transmission electron microscopy, optical profilometry, and nanoindentation. All AlN films exhibited a preferred orientation and compressive residual stresses. At similar film thicknesses, an increase in the peak target current density to 0.53 Acm"−"2 improved the orientation. Further increasing the peak target current density to above 0.53 Acm"−"2 showed limited contribution to the texture development. The study also showed that an increase in the thickness of the AlN films deposited by DOMS improved the c-axis alignment accompanied with a reduction in the residual stress.

  12. C-axis orientated AlN films deposited using deep oscillation magnetron sputtering

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lin, Jianliang, E-mail: Jianliang.lin@swri.org [Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio, TX 78238 (United States); Chistyakov, Roman [Zpulser LLC, Mansfield, MA 02048 (United States)

    2017-02-28

    Highlights: • Highly <0001> orientated AlN films were deposited by DOMS technique. • Controlled ion flux bombardment improved the <0001> texture and crystalline quality. • Excessive ion bombardment showed a detrimental effect on the c-axis orientation growth. • Improved c-axis alignment accompanied with stress relaxation with increasing film thickness. - Abstract: Highly <0001> c-axis orientated aluminum nitride (AlN) films were deposited on silicon (100) substrates by reactive deep oscillation magnetron sputtering (DOMS). No epitaxial favored bond layer and substrate heating were applied for assisting texture growth. The effects of the peak target current density (varied from 0.39 to 0.8 Acm{sup −2}) and film thickness (varied from 0.25 to 3.3 μm) on the c-axis orientation, microstructure, residual stress and mechanical properties of the AlN films were investigated by means of X-ray diffraction rocking curve methodology, transmission electron microscopy, optical profilometry, and nanoindentation. All AlN films exhibited a <0001> preferred orientation and compressive residual stresses. At similar film thicknesses, an increase in the peak target current density to 0.53 Acm{sup −2} improved the <0001> orientation. Further increasing the peak target current density to above 0.53 Acm{sup −2} showed limited contribution to the texture development. The study also showed that an increase in the thickness of the AlN films deposited by DOMS improved the c-axis alignment accompanied with a reduction in the residual stress.

  13. Rf reactive sputtering of indium-tin-oxide films

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tvarozek, V.; Novotny, I.; Harman, R.; Kovac, J.

    1986-01-01

    Films of indium-tin-oxide (ITO) have been deposited by rf reactive diode sputtering of metallic InSn alloy targets, or ceramic ITO targets, in an Ar and Ar+0 2 atmosphere. Electrical as well as optical properties of ITO films were controlled by varying sputtering parameters and by post-deposition heat-treatment in Ar, H 2 , N 2 , H 2 +N 2 ambients. The ITO films exhibited low resistivity approx. 2 x 10 -4 Ω cm, high transmittance approx. 90% in the visible spectral region and high reflectance approx. 80% in the near infra-red region. (author)

  14. Silver nanoparticles deposited on anodic aluminum oxide template using magnetron sputtering for surface-enhanced Raman scattering substrate

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wong-ek, Krongkamol [Nanoscience and Technology Program, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok 10330 (Thailand); Eiamchai, Pitak; Horprathum, Mati; Patthanasettakul, Viyapol [National Electronics and Computer Technology Center, 112 Thailand Science Park, Phahonyothin Rd., Klong Luang, Pathumthani 12120 (Thailand); Limnonthakul, Puenisara [Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, King Mongkut' s University of Technology Thonburi, Bangkok 10140 (Thailand); Chindaudom, Pongpan [National Electronics and Computer Technology Center, 112 Thailand Science Park, Phahonyothin Rd., Klong Luang, Pathumthani 12120 (Thailand); Nuntawong, Noppadon, E-mail: noppadon.nuntawong@nectec.or.t [National Electronics and Computer Technology Center, 112 Thailand Science Park, Phahonyothin Rd., Klong Luang, Pathumthani 12120 (Thailand)

    2010-09-30

    Low-cost and highly sensitive surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) substrates have been fabricated by a simple anodizing process and a magnetron sputtering deposition. The substrates, which consist of silver nanoparticles embedded on anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) templates, are investigated by a scanning electron microscope and a confocal Raman spectroscopy. The SERS activities are demonstrated by Raman scattering from adsorbed solutions of methylene blue and pyridine on the SERS substrate surface. The most optimized SERS substrate contains the silver nanoparticles, with a size distribution of 10-30 nm, deposited on the AAO template. From a calculation, the SERS enhancement factor is as high as 8.5 x 10{sup 7}, which suggests strong potentials for direct applications in the chemical detection and analyses.

  15. Nanoscale compositional analysis of NiTi shape memory alloy films deposited by DC magnetron sputtering

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sharma, S. K.; Mohan, S. [Centre for Nano Science and Engineering, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore-560012 (India); Bysakh, S. [Central Glass and Ceramics Research Institute, Kolkata-700032 (India); Kumar, A.; Kamat, S. V. [Defence Metallurgical Research Laboratory, Hyderabad-500058 (India)

    2013-11-15

    The formation of surface oxide layer as well as compositional changes along the thickness for NiTi shape memory alloy thin films deposited by direct current magnetron sputtering at substrate temperature of 300 °C in the as-deposited condition as well as in the postannealed (at 600 °C) condition have been thoroughly studied by using secondary ion mass spectroscopy, x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and scanning transmission electron microscopy-energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy techniques. Formation of titanium oxide (predominantly titanium dioxide) layer was observed in both as-deposited and postannealed NiTi films, although the oxide layer was much thinner (8 nm) in as-deposited condition. The depletion of Ti and enrichment of Ni below the oxide layer in postannealed films also resulted in the formation of a graded microstructure consisting of titanium oxide, Ni{sub 3}Ti, and B2 NiTi. A uniform composition of B2 NiTi was obtained in the postannealed film only below a depth of 200–250 nm from the surface. Postannealed film also exhibited formation of a ternary silicide (Ni{sub x}Ti{sub y}Si) at the film–substrate interface, whereas no silicide was seen in the as-deposited film. The formation of silicide also caused a depletion of Ni in the film in a region ∼250–300 nm just above the film substrate interface.

  16. Measurements of beryllium sputtering yields at JET

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jet-Efda Contributors Stamp, M. F.; Krieger, K.; Brezinsek, S.

    2011-08-01

    The lifetime of the beryllium first wall in ITER will depend on erosion and redeposition processes. The physical sputtering yields for beryllium (both deuterium on beryllium (Be) and Be on Be) are of crucial importance since they drive the erosion process. Literature values of experimental sputtering yields show an order of magnitude variation so predictive modelling of ITER wall lifetimes has large uncertainty. We have reviewed the old beryllium yield experiments on JET and used current beryllium atomic data to produce revised beryllium sputtering yields. These experimental measurements have been compared with a simple physical sputtering model based on TRIM.SP beryllium yield data. Fair agreement is seen for beryllium yields from a clean beryllium limiter. However the yield on a beryllium divertor tile (with C/Be co-deposits) shows poor agreement at low electron temperatures indicating that the effect of the higher sputtering threshold for beryllium carbide is important.

  17. Effect of deposition temperature on the properties of nitrogen-doped AZO thin films grown on glass by rf reactive magnetron sputtering

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Cho, Shinho, E-mail: scho@silla.ac.kr [Center for Green Fusion Technology and Department of Electronic Materials Engineering, Silla University, Busan 617-736 (Korea, Republic of); Kim, Heetae [Backlight Technology, LCD Division, Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., Asan 336-841 (Korea, Republic of)

    2010-09-15

    Nitrogen-doped aluminum zinc oxide (NAZO) thin films were deposited on glass substrates at various deposition temperatures by rf reactive magnetron sputtering. The NAZO film deposited at 400 deg. C shows a strongly c-axis preferred orientation and n-type conduction with a resistivity of 2.1 x 10{sup -2} {Omega} cm, Hall mobility of 7.7 cm{sup 2} V{sup -1} s{sup -1}, and electron concentration of 3.8 x 10{sup 19} cm{sup -3}. The optimum crystallographic structure occurs at a deposition temperature of 400 deg. C, where a considerable crystallinity enhancement of the films is observed. The band gap energies of the NAZO films, obtained by using Tauc model and parabolic bands, are found to significantly depend on the deposition temperature, along with the band gap narrowing at higher deposition temperature due to renormalization effects.

  18. Copper deposition on fabrics by rf plasma sputtering for medical applications

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Segura, G; Guzmán, P; Barrantes, Y; Navarro, G; Asenjo, J; Guadamuz, S; Vargas, VI; Zuñiga, P; Chaves, S; Chaves, J

    2015-01-01

    The present work is about preparation and characterization of RF sputtered Cu films on cotton by the usage of a Magnetron Sputter Source and 99.995% purity Cu target at room temperature. Cotton fabric samples of 1, 2 and 4 min of sputtering time at discharge pressure of 1×10 −2 Torr and distance between target and sample of 8 cm were used. The main goal was to qualitatively test the antimicrobial action of copper on fabrics. For that purpose, a reference strain of Escherichia Coli ATCC 35218 that were grown in TSA plates was implemented. Results indicated a decrease in the growth of bacteria by contact with Cu; for fabric samples with longer sputtering presented lower development of E. coli colonies. The scope of this research focused on using these new textiles in health field, for example socks can be made with this textile for the treatment of athlete's foot and the use in pajamas, sheets, pillow covers and robes in hospital setting for reducing the spread of microorganisms. (paper)

  19. Data compilation of angular distributions of sputtered atoms

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yamamura, Yasunori; Takiguchi, Takashi; Tawara, Hiro.

    1990-01-01

    Sputtering on a surface is generally caused by the collision cascade developed near the surface. The process is in principle the same as that causing radiation damage in the bulk of solids. Sputtering has long been regarded as an undesirable dirty effect which destroys the cathodes and grids in gas discharge tubes or ion sources and contaminates plasma and the surrounding walls. However, sputtering is used today for many applications such as sputter ion sources, mass spectrometers and the deposition of thin films. Plasma contamination and the surface erosion of first walls due to sputtering are still the major problems in fusion research. The angular distribution of the particles sputtered from solid surfaces can possibly provide the detailed information on the collision cascade in the interior of targets. This report presents a compilation of the angular distribution of sputtered atoms at normal incidence and oblique incidence in the various combinations of incident ions and target atoms. The angular distribution of sputtered atoms from monatomic solids at normal incidence and oblique incidence, and the compilation of the data on the angular distribution of sputtered atoms are reported. (K.I.)

  20. Investigation of optical and microstructural properties of RF magnetron sputtered PTFE films for hydrophobic applications

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tripathi, S.; Haque, S. Maidul; Rao, K. Divakar; De, Rajnarayan; Shripathi, T.; Deshpande, U.; Ganesan, V.; Sahoo, N.K.

    2016-01-01

    Highlights: • Polytetrafluoroethylene films were made by RF sputtering by varying deposition time. • With increasing deposition time, thickness shows unusual trend due to backsputtering. • Major contribution of CF 2 and CF 3 bonds in the samples is seen by ATR-FTIR. • Deposition time influences film thickness but all samples remain hydrophobic. • XPS spectra show strong CF x bonds at the surface. - Abstract: The deposition time dependence of optical, structural and morphological properties of thin as well as ultrathin Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) sputtered films have been explored in the present communication. The films were prepared by RF magnetron sputtering under high vacuum condition, as a function of deposition time. The ellipsometry as well as X-ray reflectivity data show a drastic reduction in film thickness as the deposition time increases from 5 s to 10 s, possibly as a consequence of back sputtering. With subsequent deposition, back sputtering component decreases and hence, thickness increases with increase in deposition time. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) images show a slight change in growth morphology although roughness is independent of deposition time. Attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR) measurements showed the presence of C−C and CF x (x = 1–3) bonds in all the PTFE films. Supporting this, corresponding X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) curves fitted for C-1s and F-1s peaks revealed a major contribution from CF 2 bonds along with significant contribution from CF 3 bonds leading to an F/C ratio of ∼1.5 giving hydrophobic nature of all the films.

  1. Structure and morphology of magnetron sputter deposited ultrathin ZnO films on confined polymeric template

    Science.gov (United States)

    Singh, Ajaib; Schipmann, Susanne; Mathur, Aakash; Pal, Dipayan; Sengupta, Amartya; Klemradt, Uwe; Chattopadhyay, Sudeshna

    2017-08-01

    The structure and morphology of ultra-thin zinc oxide (ZnO) films with different film thicknesses on confined polymer template were studied through X-ray reflectivity (XRR) and grazing incidence small angle X-ray scattering (GISAXS). Using magnetron sputter deposition technique ZnO thin films with different film thicknesses (weight of polystyrene). The detailed internal structure, along the surface/interfaces and the growth direction of the system were explored in this study, which provides insight into the growth procedure of ZnO on confined polymer and reveals that a thin layer of ZnO, with very low surface and interface roughness, can be grown by DC magnetron sputtering technique, with approximately full coverage (with bulk like electron density) even in nm order of thickness, in 2-7 nm range on confined polymer template, without disturbing the structure of the underneath template. The resulting ZnO-polystyrene hybrid systems show strong ZnO near band edge (NBE) and deep-level (DLE) emissions in their room temperature photoluminescence spectra, where the contribution of DLE gets relatively stronger with decreasing ZnO film thickness, indicating a significant enhancement of surface defects because of the greater surface to volume ratio in thinner films.

  2. Evolution of magnetic and microstructural properties of thick sputtered NdFeB films with processing temperature

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Walther, A. [Institut Neel, CNRS-UJF, 25 rue de Martyrs, 38042 Grenoble (France); CEA Leti - MINATEC, 17 rue des Martyrs, 38054 Grenoble (France); Khlopkov, K. [IFW Dresden, Institute of Metallic Materials, Helmholtzstr. 20, 01069 Dresden (Germany); Gutfleisch, O. [IFW Dresden, Institute of Metallic Materials, Helmholtzstr. 20, 01069 Dresden (Germany); Givord, D. [Institut Neel, CNRS-UJF, 25 rue de Martyrs, 38042 Grenoble (France); Dempsey, N.M. [Institut Neel, CNRS-UJF, 25 rue de Martyrs, 38042 Grenoble (France)]. E-mail: nora.dempsey@grenoble.cnrs.fr

    2007-09-15

    Ta (100 nm)/NdFeB (5 {mu}m)/Ta (100 nm) films have been deposited onto Si substrates using triode sputtering (deposition rate {approx}18 {mu}m/h). A 2-step procedure was used: deposition at temperatures up to 400 deg. C followed by ex-situ annealing at higher temperatures. Post-deposition annealing temperatures above 650 deg. C are needed to develop high values of coercivity. The duration of the annealing time is more critical in anisotropic samples deposited onto heated substrates than in isotropic samples deposited at lower temperatures. For a given set of annealing conditions (750 deg. C/10'), high heating rates ({>=}2000 deg. C/h) favour high coercivity in both isotropic and anisotropic films. The shape and size of Nd{sub 2}Fe{sub 14}B grains depend strongly on the heating rate.

  3. Experimental studies of thin films deposition by magnetron sputtering method for CIGS solar cell fabrication

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gułkowski Sławomir

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Among a variety of the thin film solar cell technologies of second generation, copper-indium-gallium-diselenide device (CIGS with the latest highest lab cell efficiency record of 22.4 % seems to be the most promising for the power generation. This is partly due to the advantages of using low cost films of few microns thick not only as a metallic contacts but also as a main structure of the solar cell consisted of high quality semiconductor layers. This paper reports the experimental studies of the CIGS absorber formation on Soda Lime Glass substrate covered by thin molybdenum film as a back contact layer. All structures were deposited with the use of magnetron sputtering method only. Technological parameters of the deposition process such as deposition power, pressure and deposition time were optimized for each layer of the structure. Mo back contact was examined in terms of resistivity. EDS measurements were carried out to verify stoichiometric composition of CIGS absorber. Thin film of Al was used as a top contact in order to examine the quality of p-n junction. The I-V electrical characteristic of the p-n junction was analysed in terms of solar cell application.

  4. Influence of deposition parameters on the optical and structural properties of TiO/sub 2/ films produced by reactive dc plasmatron sputtering

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Schiller, S; Beister, G; Sieber, W; Schirmer, G; Hacker, E

    1981-09-11

    We investigated the variations in the structure and optical properties of TiO/sub 2/ films produced by reactive d.c. plasmatron sputtering with the most important deposition parameters. Over a wide range, the phase composition (ratio of rutile to anatase) and the grain size of the TiO/sub 2/ films can be influenced in a controlled manner by variations in the substrate temperature and the oxygen partial pressure. Because of their high refractive index and low light-scattering losses, plasmatron-sputtered TiO/sub 2/ films are of great interest in the field of optical interference coatings, e.g. for dielectric multilayer stacks.

  5. The Use of OXYGEN-18 in the Development of Methods for Controlled Sputter Deposition of High Critical Transition Temperature Material Thin Films of Predicted Composition and Good Uniformity

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tidrow, Steven Clay

    Two primary concerns, in the sputter deposition of high T_{c} material films, are the prevention of oxygen deficiency in the films and the elimination of the negative ion effect. "Oxygen deficiency" occurs when the amount of oxygen incorporated into the film is less than the amount of oxygen required to form the superconducting material lattice. Oxygen deficiency is due to the volatile nature of oxygen. The negative ion effect occurs when an atom or molecule (typically oxygen) gains an extra electron, is accelerated away from the target and impinges upon a film being grown directly in front of the sputtering target. The impinging particle has enough energy to cause resputtering of the deposited film. The presence of Sr and to a greater extent Ba, may enhance the negative ion effect in these materials. However, it is oxygen which readily forms negative ions that is primarily responsible for the negative ion effect. Thus, oxygen must be given special attention in the sputter deposition of high T_{c} material films. A specially designed sputtering system is used to demonstrate that the negative ion effect can be reduced such that large uniform high T_{c} material films possessing predicted and repeated composition can be grown in an on-axis arrangement. Utilizing this same sputtering system and the volatile nature of oxygen, it is demonstrated that oxygen processes occurring in the chamber during growth of high T_ {c} material films can be investigated using the tracer ^{18}O. In particular, it is shown that ^{18}O can be utilized as a tool for (1) investigating the negative ion effect, (2) investigating oxygen incorporation into high T_{c} material films, (3) investigating oxygen incorporation into the target, (4) tailoring films for oxygen migration and interface investigations and (5) tailoring films for the other specific oxygen investigations. Such sputtering systems that utilize the tracer ^{18}O are necessary for systematic growth of high T_ {c} material films

  6. Domino Platform: PVD Coaters for Arc Evaporation and High Current Pulsed Magnetron Sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Vetter, J; Müller, J; Erkens, G

    2012-01-01

    AlTiN and CrN coatings were deposited in hybrid DOMINO platforms by magnetron sputtering (DC-MS, DC-MS+HCP-MS, HCP-MS) and vacuum arc evaporation. The ion cleaning was done by the AEGD process. The coating rates and the energy efficiency of both deposition processes were compared. The roughness effects of the different coating types were discussed. Preliminary results of the change of pulse characteristics during simultaneously running of HCP-MS plus vacuum arc evaporation are shown.

  7. Microstructure of ZnO thin films deposited by high power impulse magnetron sputtering

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Reed, A.N., E-mail: amber.reed.5@us.af.mil [Materials and Manufacturing Directorate, Air Force Research Laboratory, 3005 Hobson Way, Wright Patterson Air Force Base, OH 45433 (United States); Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering, University of Dayton, Dayton, OH 45469 (United States); Shamberger, P.J. [Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Texas A& M University, College Station, TX 77843 (United States); Hu, J.J. [Materials and Manufacturing Directorate, Air Force Research Laboratory, 3005 Hobson Way, Wright Patterson Air Force Base, OH 45433 (United States); University of Dayton Research Institute, University of Dayton, Dayton, OH 45469 (United States); Muratore, C. [Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering, University of Dayton, Dayton, OH 45469 (United States); Bultman, J.E. [Materials and Manufacturing Directorate, Air Force Research Laboratory, 3005 Hobson Way, Wright Patterson Air Force Base, OH 45433 (United States); University of Dayton Research Institute, University of Dayton, Dayton, OH 45469 (United States); Voevodin, A.A., E-mail: andrey.voevodin@us.af.mil [Materials and Manufacturing Directorate, Air Force Research Laboratory, 3005 Hobson Way, Wright Patterson Air Force Base, OH 45433 (United States)

    2015-03-31

    High power impulse magnetron sputtering was used to deposit thin (~ 100 nm) zinc oxide (ZnO) films from a ceramic ZnO target onto substrates heated to 150 °C. The resulting films had strong crystallinity, highly aligned (002) texture and low surface roughness (root mean square roughness less than 10 nm), as determined by X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, scanning electron microscopy and atomic force spectroscopy measurements. Deposition pressure and target–substrate distance had the greatest effect on film microstructure. The degree of alignment in the films was strongly dependent on the gas pressure. Deposition at pressures less than 0.93 Pa resulted in a bimodal distribution of grain sizes. An initial growth layer with preferred orientations (101) and (002) parallel to the interface was observed at the film–substrate interface under all conditions examined here; the extent of that competitive region was dependent on growth conditions. Time-resolved current measurements of the target and ion energy distributions, determined using energy resolved mass spectrometry, were correlated to film microstructure in order to investigate the effect of plasma conditions on film nucleation and growth. - Highlights: • Low temperature growth of nanocrystalline zinc oxide (ZnO) films. • ZnO films had a highly (002) textured, smooth, dense microstructure. • Dominant (002) orientation of films was pressure dependent. • Interfacial (101)/(002) mixed orientation layer controlled by substrate location.

  8. Protection of p+-n-Si Photoanodes by Sputter-Deposited Ir/IrOxThin Films

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Mei, Bastian Timo; Seger, Brian; Pedersen, Thomas

    2014-01-01

    Sputter deposition of Ir/IrOx on p+-n-Si without interfacial corrosion protection layers yielded photoanodes capable of efficient water oxidation (OER) in acidic media (1 M H2SO4). Stability of at least 18 h was shown by chronoamperomety at 1.23 V versus RHE (reversible hydrogen electrode) under 38...... density of 1 mA/cm2 at 1.05 V vs. RHE. Further improvement by heat treatment resulted in a cathodic shift of 40 mV and enabled a current density of 10 mA/cm2 (requirements for a 10% efficient tandem device) at 1.12 V vs. RHS under irradiation. Thus, the simple IrOx/Ir/p+-n-Si structures not only provide...

  9. Sn-doped β-Ga2O3 nanowires deposited by radio frequency powder sputtering

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Su Yong; Kang, Hyon Chol

    2018-01-01

    We report the synthesis and characterization of Sn-doped β-Ga2O3 nanowires (NWs) deposited using radio frequency powder sputtering. The growth sequence of Sn-doped β-Ga2O3 NWs is similar to that of the undoped β-Ga2O3 NWs. Self-assembled Ga clusters act as seeds for initiating the growth of Sn-doped β-Ga2O3 NWs through a vapor-liquid-solid process, while Sn atoms are incorporated into the trunk of NWs uniformly. Different from the straight shape of undoped NWs, the conical shape of NWs is observed, which is attributed to the change in supersaturation conditions and the diffusion of the catalyst tip and reaction species.

  10. Sputtering properties of tungsten 'fuzzy' surfaces

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nishijima, D.; Baldwin, M.J.; Doerner, R.P.; Yu, J.H.

    2011-01-01

    Sputtering yields of He-induced W 'fuzzy' surfaces bombarded by Ar have been measured in the linear divertor plasma simulator PISCES-B. It is found that the sputtering yield of a fuzzy surface, Y fuzzy , decreases with increasing fuzzy layer thickness, L, and saturates at ∼10% of that of a smooth surface, Y smooth , at L > 1 μm. The reduction in the sputtering yield is suspected to be due mainly to the porous structure of fuzz, since the ratio, Y fuzzy /Y smooth follows (1 - p fuzz ), where p fuzz is the fuzz porosity. Further, Y fuzzy /Y smooth is observed to increase with incident ion energy, E i . This may be explained by an energy dependent change in the angular distribution of sputtered W atoms, since at lower E i , the angular distribution is observed to become more butterfly-shaped. That is, a larger fraction of sputtered W atoms can line-of-sight deposit/stick onto neighboring fuzz nanostructures for lower E i butterfly distributions, resulting in lower ratio of Y fuzzy /Y smooth .

  11. Large Area Sputter Coating on Glass

    Science.gov (United States)

    Katayama, Yoshihito

    Large glass has been used for commercial buildings, housings and vehicles for many years. Glass size for flat displays is getting larger and larger. The glass for the 8th generation is more than 5 m2 in area. Demand of the large glass is increasing not only in these markets but also in a solar cell market growing drastically. Therefore, large area coating is demanded to plus something else on glass more than ever. Sputtering and pyrolysis are the major coating methods on large glass today. Sputtering process is particularly popular because it can deposit a wide variety of materials in good coating uniformity on the glass. This paper describes typical industrial sputtering system and recent progress in sputtering technology. It also shows typical coated glass products in architectural, automotive and display fields and comments on their functions, film stacks and so on.

  12. Gold removal rate by ion sputtering as a function of ion-beam voltage and raster size using Auger electron spectroscopy. Final report

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Boehning, C.W.

    1983-01-01

    Gold removal rate was measured as a function of ion beam voltage and raster size using Auger electron spectroscopy (AES). Three different gold thicknesses were developed as standards. Two sputter rate calibration curves were generated by which gold sputter rate could be determined for variations in ion beam voltage or raster size

  13. Modeling and analysis of surface roughness effects on sputtering, reflection, and sputtered particle transport

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Brooks, J.N.; Ruzic, D.N.

    1990-01-01

    The microstructure of the redeposited surface in tokamaks may affect sputtering and reflection properties and subsequent particle transport. This subject has been studied numerically using coupled models/codes for near-surface plasma particle kinetic transport (WBC code) and rough surface sputtering (fractal-TRIM). The coupled codes provide an overall Monte Carlo calculation of the sputtering cascade resulting from an initial flux of hydrogen ions. Beryllium, carbon, and tungsten surfaces are analyzed for typical high recycling, oblique magnetic field, divertor conditions. Significant variations in computed sputtering rates are found with surface roughness. Beryllium exhibits high D-T and self-sputtering coefficients for the plasma regime studied (T e = 30-75 eV). Carbon and tungsten sputtering is significantly lower. 9 refs., 6 figs., 1 tab

  14. Investigation of the physical properties of ion assisted ZrN thin films deposited by RF magnetron sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Signore, M A; Valerini, D; Rizzo, A; Tapfer, L; Capodieci, L; Cappello, A

    2010-01-01

    Ion bombardment during thin film growth is known to cause structural and morphological changes in the deposited films, thus affecting their physical properties. In this work zirconium nitride films have been deposited by the ion assisted magnetron sputtering technique. The ion energy is controlled by varying the voltage applied to the substrate in the range 0-25 V. The deposited ZrN films are characterized for their structure, surface roughness, oxygen contamination, optical reflectance and electrical resistivity. With increasing substrate voltage crystallinity of the films is enhanced with a preferential orientation of the ZrN grains having the (1 1 1) axis perpendicular to the substrate surface. At the same time, a decrease in electrical resistivity and oxygen contamination content is observed up to 20 V. A higher substrate voltage (25 V) causes an inversion in the observed experimental trends. The role of oxygen contamination decrease and generation of nitrogen vacancies due to ionic assistance have been considered as a possible explanation for the experimental results.

  15. Investigation of the physical properties of ion assisted ZrN thin films deposited by RF magnetron sputtering

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Signore, M A; Valerini, D; Rizzo, A; Tapfer, L; Capodieci, L; Cappello, A [ENEA, Department of Physical Technologies and New Materials, SS7, Appia, km 706, 72100 Brindisi (Italy)

    2010-06-09

    Ion bombardment during thin film growth is known to cause structural and morphological changes in the deposited films, thus affecting their physical properties. In this work zirconium nitride films have been deposited by the ion assisted magnetron sputtering technique. The ion energy is controlled by varying the voltage applied to the substrate in the range 0-25 V. The deposited ZrN films are characterized for their structure, surface roughness, oxygen contamination, optical reflectance and electrical resistivity. With increasing substrate voltage crystallinity of the films is enhanced with a preferential orientation of the ZrN grains having the (1 1 1) axis perpendicular to the substrate surface. At the same time, a decrease in electrical resistivity and oxygen contamination content is observed up to 20 V. A higher substrate voltage (25 V) causes an inversion in the observed experimental trends. The role of oxygen contamination decrease and generation of nitrogen vacancies due to ionic assistance have been considered as a possible explanation for the experimental results.

  16. Growth dynamics of reactive-sputtering-deposited AlN films

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Auger, M.A.; Vazquez, L.; Sanchez, O.; Jergel, M.; Cuerno, R.; Castro, M.

    2005-01-01

    We have studied the surface kinetic roughening of AlN films grown on Si(100) substrates by dc reactive sputtering within the framework of the dynamic scaling theory. Films deposited under the same experimental conditions for different growth times were analyzed by atomic force microscopy and x-ray diffraction. The AlN films display a (002) preferred orientation. We have found two growth regimes with a crossover time of 36 min. In the first regime, the growth dynamics is unstable and the films present two types of textured domains, well textured and randomly oriented, respectively. In contrast, in the second regime the films are homogeneous and well textured, leading to a relative stabilization of the surface roughness characterized by a growth exponent β=0.37±0.03. In this regime a superrough scaling behavior is found with the following exponents: (i) Global exponents: roughness exponent α=1.2±0.2 and β=0.37±0.03 and coarsening exponent 1/z=0.32±0.05; (ii) local exponents: α loc =1, β loc =0.32±0.01. The differences between the growth modes are found to be related to the different main growth mechanisms dominating their growth dynamics: sticking anisotropy and shadowing, respectively

  17. High rate reactive sputtering in an opposed cathode closed-field unbalanced magnetron sputtering system

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sproul, William D.; Rudnik, Paul J.; Graham, Michael E.; Rohde, Suzanne L.

    1990-01-01

    Attention is given to an opposed cathode sputtering system constructed with the ability to coat parts with a size up to 15 cm in diameter and 30 cm in length. Initial trials with this system revealed very low substrate bias currents. When the AlNiCo magnets in the two opposed cathodes were arranged in a mirrored configuration, the plasma density at the substrate was low, and the substrate bias current density was less than 1 mA/sq cm. If the magnets were arranged in a closed-field configuration where the field lines from one set of magnets were coupled with the other set, the substrate bias current density was as high as 5.7 mA/sq cm when NdFeB magnets were used. In the closed-field configuration, the substrate bias current density was related to the magnetic field strength between the two cathodes and to the sputtering pressure. Hard well-adhered TiN coatings were reactively sputtered in the opposed cathode system in the closed-field configuration, but the mirrored configuration produced films with poor adhesion because of etching problems and low plasma density at the substrate.

  18. Transport theory of sputtering I: Depth of origin of sputtered atoms

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhang, Zhu Lin

    1999-01-01

    Sputter theory employing a sum of two power cross sections has been implemented. Compared with the well known Lindhard power cross section (V∝r -1/m ), a sum of two such cross sections can give a much better approximation to the Born-Mayer scattering in the low energy region (m ∼ 0.1). By using both one and two power cross sections, we have solved the linear transport equations describing the sputtering problem asymptotically. As usual, electronic stopping is ignored in the analysis. It has further been proved that Falcone's theory of the atom ejection process contradicts transport theory. The Andersen-Sigmund relation for partial sputtering yield ratios between two elements in an arbitrary multicomponent target has been derived by both methods. The energy deposited in the target surface layers has been computed for a few typical ion-target combinations. The numerical curves show that both theories generate almost the same results (error m≥0. The former even may be only about one half of the latter as long as m=0

  19. Bioactivity response of Ta{sub 1-x}O{sub x} coatings deposited by reactive DC magnetron sputtering

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Almeida Alves, C.F., E-mail: cristiana.alves@fisica.uminho.pt [GRF-CFUM, Physics Departament, University of Minho, Campus of Azurem, Guimaraes 4800-058 (Portugal); Cavaleiro, A. [SEG-CEMUC, Mechanical Engineering Department, University of Coimbra, Coimbra 3030-788 (Portugal); Carvalho, S. [GRF-CFUM, Physics Departament, University of Minho, Campus of Azurem, Guimaraes 4800-058 (Portugal); SEG-CEMUC, Mechanical Engineering Department, University of Coimbra, Coimbra 3030-788 (Portugal)

    2016-01-01

    The use of dental implants is sometimes accompanied by failure due to periimplantitis disease and subsequently poor esthetics when soft–hard tissue margin recedes. As a consequence, further research is needed for developing new bioactive surfaces able to enhance the osseous growth. Tantalum (Ta) is a promising material for dental implants since, comparing with titanium (Ti), it is bioactive and has an interesting chemistry which promotes the osseointegration. Another promising approach for implantology is the development of implants with oxidized surfaces since bone progenitor cells interact with the oxide layer forming a diffusion zone due to its ability to bind with calcium which promotes a stronger bond. In the present report Ta-based coatings were deposited by reactive DC magnetron sputtering onto Ti CP substrates in an Ar + O{sub 2} atmosphere. In order to assess the osteoconductive response of the studied materials, contact angle and in vitro tests of the samples immersed in Simulated Body Fluid (SBF) were performed. Structural results showed that oxide phases where achieved with larger amounts of oxygen (70 at.% O). More compact and smooth coatings were deposited by increasing the oxygen content. The as-deposited Ta coating presented the most hydrophobic character (100°); with increasing oxygen amount contact angles progressively diminished, down to the lowest measured value, 63°. The higher wettability is also accompanied by an increase on the surface energy. Bioactivity tests demonstrated that highest O-content coating, in good agreement with wettability and surface energy values, showed an increased affinity for apatite adhesion, with higher Ca/P ratio formation, when compared to the bare Ti substrates. - Highlights: • Ta{sub 1-x}O{sub x} coatings were deposited by reactive DC magnetron sputtering. • Amorphous oxide phases were achieved with higher oxygen amounts. • Contact angles progressively diminished, with increasing oxygen content. • Ta

  20. ZnO:Al thin films deposited by RF-magnetron sputtering with tunable and uniform properties.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Miorin, E; Montagner, F; Battiston, S; Fiameni, S; Fabrizio, M

    2011-03-01

    Nanostructured, high quality and large area Al-doped ZnO (ZnO:Al) thin films were obtained by radiofrequency (RF) magnetron sputtering. The sample rotation during deposition has resulted in excellent spatial distribution of thickness and electro-optical properties compared to that obtained under static conditions. ZnO:Al thin films are employed in a large number of devices, including thin film solar cells, where the uniformity of the properties is a key factor for a possible up-scaling of the research results to industrially relevant substrate sizes. A chemical post etching treatment was employed achieving tunable surface nanotextures to generate light scattering at the desired wavelength for improved cell efficiency. Since the film resistivity is only slightly increased by the etching, this post-deposition step allows separating the optimization of electro-optical properties from light scattering behavior. The thin films were characterized by FE-SEM, XRD, UV-VIS spectroscopy, four probe and van der Paw techniques.

  1. Process parameter impact on properties of sputtered large-area Mo bilayers for CIGS thin film solar cell applications

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Badgujar, Amol C.; Dhage, Sanjay R., E-mail: dhage@arci.res.in; Joshi, Shrikant V.

    2015-08-31

    Copper indium gallium selenide (CIGS) has emerged as a promising candidate for thin film solar cells, with efficiencies approaching those of silicon-based solar cells. To achieve optimum performance in CIGS solar cells, uniform, conductive, stress-free, well-adherent, reflective, crystalline molybdenum (Mo) thin films with preferred orientation (110) are desirable as a back contact on large area glass substrates. The present study focuses on cylindrical rotating DC magnetron sputtered bilayer Mo thin films on 300 mm × 300 mm soda lime glass (SLG) substrates. Key sputtering variables, namely power and Ar gas flow rates, were optimized to achieve best structural, electrical and optical properties. The Mo films were comprehensively characterized and found to possess high degree of thickness uniformity over large area. Best crystallinity, reflectance and sheet resistance was obtained at high sputtering powers and low argon gas flow rates, while mechanical properties like adhesion and residual stress were found to be best at low sputtering power and high argon gas flow rate, thereby indicating a need to arrive at a suitable trade-off during processing. - Highlights: • Sputtering of bilayer molybdenum thin films on soda lime glass • Large area deposition using rotating cylindrical direct current magnetron • Trade of sputter process parameters power and pressure • High uniformity of thickness and best electrical properties obtained • Suitable mechanical and optical properties of molybdenum are achieved for CIGS application.

  2. Study of working pressure on the optoelectrical properties of Al–Y codoped ZnO thin-film deposited using DC magnetron sputtering for solar cell applications

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hsu, Feng-Hao; Wang, Na-Fu; Tsai, Yu-Zen; Chuang, Ming-Chieh; Cheng, Yu-Song; Houng, Mau-Phon

    2013-01-01

    Low cost transparent conductive Al–Y codoped ZnO (AZOY) thin-films were prepared on a glass substrate using a DC magnetron sputtering technique with various working pressures in the range of 5–13 mTorr. The relationship among the structural, electrical, and optical properties of sputtered AZOY films was studied as a function of working pressure. The XRD measurements show that the crystallinity of the films degraded as the working gas pressure increased. The AZOY thin-film deposited at a working pressure of 5 mTorr exhibited the lowest electrical resistivity of 4.3 × 10 −4 Ω cm, carrier mobility of 30 cm 2 /V s, highest carrier concentration of 4.9 × 10 20 cm −3 , and high transmittance in the visible region (400–800 nm) of approximately 90%. Compared with Al doped ZnO (AZO) thin-films deposited using DC or RF magnetron sputtering methods, a high carrier mobility was observed in our AZOY thin-films. This result can be used to effectively decrease the absorption of near infrared-rays in solar cell applications. The mechanisms are attributed to the larger transition energy between Ar atoms and sputtering particles and the size compensation of the dopants. Finally, the optimal quality AZOY thin-film was used as an emitter layer (or window layer) to form AZOY/n-Si heterojunction solar cells, which exhibited a stable conversion efficiency (η) of 9.4% under an AM1.5 illumination condition.

  3. Study of sterilization-treatment in pure and N- doped carbon thin films synthesized by inductively coupled plasma assisted pulsed-DC magnetron sputtering

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Javid, Amjed [Center for Advanced Plasma Surface Technology (CAPST), NU-SKKU Joint Institute for Plasma Nano-Materials (IPNM), Advanced Materials Science and Engineering, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon 440-746 (Korea, Republic of); Department of Textile Processing, National Textile University, Faisalabad 37610 (Pakistan); Kumar, Manish, E-mail: manishk@skku.edu [Center for Advanced Plasma Surface Technology (CAPST), NU-SKKU Joint Institute for Plasma Nano-Materials (IPNM), Advanced Materials Science and Engineering, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon 440-746 (Korea, Republic of); Han, Jeon Geon, E-mail: hanjg@skku.edu [Center for Advanced Plasma Surface Technology (CAPST), NU-SKKU Joint Institute for Plasma Nano-Materials (IPNM), Advanced Materials Science and Engineering, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon 440-746 (Korea, Republic of)

    2017-01-15

    Highlights: • Pure and N-doped nanocrystallie carbon films are synthesized by ICP assisted pulsed DC plasma process. • ICP power induces the increase in average graphitic crystallite size from 4.86 nm to 6.42 nm. • Beneficial role of ICP source assistance to achieve high sputtering throughput (deposition rate ∼55 nm/min). • Post-sterilization electron-transport study shows N-doped carbon films having promising stability. - Abstract: Electrically-conductive nanocrystalline carbon films, having non-toxic and non-immunogenic characteristics, are promising candidates for reusable medical devices. Here, the pure and N- doped nanocrystalline carbon films are deposited by the assistance of inductively coupled plasma (ICP) in an unbalanced facing target pulsed-DC magnetron sputtering process. Through the optical emission spectroscopy study, the role of ICP assistance and N-doping on the reactive components/radicals during the synthesis is presented. The N-doping enhances the three fold bonding configurations by increasing the ionization and energies of the plasma species. Whereas, the ICP addition increases the plasma density to control the deposition rate and film structure. As a result, sputtering-throughput (deposition rate: 31–55 nm/min), electrical resistivity (4–72 Ωcm) and water contact angle (45.12°–54°) are significantly tailored. Electric transport study across the surface microchannel confirms the superiority of N-doped carbon films for sterilization stability over the undoped carbon films.

  4. Energy dependence of sputtering yields of Be, Be-C and Be-W films by Be{sup +}-ions

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Korshunov, S.N.; Guseva, M.I.; Gureev, V.M.; Neumoin, V.E.; Stoljarova, V.G. [Russian Research Center Kurchatov Inst., Moscow (Russian Federation)

    1998-01-01

    The energy dependence measurements of Be, Be-C and Be-W deposited layer sputtering yields by Be{sup +}-ions were performed. The ion energy was varied in the range (0.3-5.0) keV. The temperature in the process of irradiation was sustained at the level of 670 K. The mixed layers were prepared by simultaneous sputtering of pair targets, Be and C, Be and W, and Be-targets with Ar{sup +}- and Be{sup +}-ions and codeposition of the sputtered atoms on silicon collectors The codeposited layer thickness was changed in the range of (500-1000) nm. The content of oxigen in the Be, Be-C, Be-W deposited layers did not exceed 20 at.%. The mixed layer sputtering yields were compared with the experimental and calculated data, obtained for the self-sputtering yields of beryllium and carbon. It was found that the sputtering yields of the Be-C and Be deposited layers by Be{sup +}-ions in the energy range (0.3-5.0) keV are within the range between the corresponding self-sputtering yields for Be and C. The sputtering yields for the mixture Be-W are close to the corresponding self-sputtering yields of beryllium. (author)

  5. Sensitivity of ion-induced sputtering to the radial distribution of energy transfers: A molecular dynamics study

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mookerjee, S.; Khan, S. A.; Roy, A.; Beuve, M.; Toulemonde, M.

    2008-01-01

    Using different models for the deposition of energy on the lattice and a classical molecular dynamics approach to the subsequent transport, we evaluate how the details of the energy deposition model influence sputtering yield from a Lennard-Jones target irradiated with a MeV/u ion beam. Two energy deposition models are considered: a uniform, instantaneous deposition into a cylinder of fixed radius around the projectile ion track, used in earlier molecular dynamics and fluid dynamics simulations of sputtering yields; and an energy deposition distributed in time and space based on the formalism developed in the thermal spike model. The dependence of the sputtering yield on the total energy deposited on the target atoms is very sensitive to the energy deposition model. To clarify the origin of this strong dependence, we explore the role of the radial expansion of the electronic system prior to the transfer of its energy to the lattice. The results imply that observables such as the sputtering yield may be used as signatures of the fast electron-lattice energy transfer in the electronic energy-loss regime, and indicate the need for more experimental and theoretical investigations of these processes

  6. Room temperature deposition of crystalline indium tin oxide films by cesium-assisted magnetron sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lee, Deuk Yeon; Baik, Hong-Koo

    2008-01-01

    Indium tin oxide (ITO) films were deposited on a Si (1 0 0) substrate at room temperature by cesium-assisted magnetron sputtering. Including plasma characteristics, the structural, electrical, and optical properties of deposited films were investigated as a function of cesium partial vapor pressure controlled by cesium reservoir temperature. We calculated the cesium coverage on the target surface showing maximum formation efficiency of negative ions by means of the theoretical model. Cesium addition promotes the formation efficiency of negative ions, which plays important role in enhancing the crystallinity of ITO films. In particular, the plasma density was linearly increased with cesium concentrations. The resultant decrease in specific resistivity and increase in transmittance (82% in the visible region) at optimum cesium concentration (4.24 x 10 -4 Ω cm at 80 deg. C of reservoir temperature) may be due to enhanced crystallinity of ITO films. Excess cesium incorporation into ITO films resulted in amorphization of its microstructure leading to degradation of ITO crystallinity. We discuss the cesium effects based on the growth mechanism of ITO films and the plasma density

  7. Properties of Ce-doped ITO films deposited on polymer substrate by DC magnetron sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kang, Y.M.; Kwon, S.H.; Choi, J.H.; Cho, Y.J.; Song, P.K.

    2010-01-01

    Ce-doped indium tin oxide (ITO:Ce) films were deposited on flexible polyimide substrates by DC magnetron sputtering using ITO targets containing various CeO 2 contents (CeO 2 : 0, 0.5, 3.0, 4.0, 6.0 wt.%) at room temperature and post-annealed at 200 o C. The crystallinity of the ITO films decreased with increasing Ce content, and it led to a decrease in surface roughness. In addition, a relatively small change in resistance in dynamic stress mode was obtained for ITO:Ce films even after the annealing at high temperature (200 o C). The minimum resistivity of the amorphous ITO:Ce films was 3.96 x 10 -4 Ωcm, which was deposited using a 3.0 wt.% CeO 2 doped ITO target. The amorphous ITO:Ce films not only have comparable electrical properties to the polycrystalline films but also have a crystallization temperature > 200 o C. In addition, the amorphous ITO:Ce film showed stable mechanical properties in the bended state.

  8. Low-temperature deposition of ZnO thin films on PET and glass substrates by DC-sputtering technique

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Banerjee, A.N.; Ghosh, C.K.; Chattopadhyay, K.K.; Minoura, Hideki; Sarkar, Ajay K.; Akiba, Atsuya; Kamiya, Atsushi; Endo, Tamio

    2006-01-01

    The structural, optical and electrical properties of ZnO thin films (260 - 490 nm thick) deposited by direct-current sputtering technique, at a relatively low-substrate temperature (363 K), onto polyethylene terephthalate and glass substrates have been investigated. X-ray diffraction patterns confirm the proper phase formation of the material. Optical transmittance data show high transparency (80% to more than 98%) of the films in the visible portion of solar radiation. Slight variation in the transparency of the films is observed with a variation in the deposition time. Electrical characterizations show the room-temperature conductivity of the films deposited onto polyethylene terephthalate substrates for 4 and 5 h around 0.05 and 0.25 S cm -1 , respectively. On the other hand, for the films deposited on glass substrates, these values are 8.5 and 9.6 S cm -1 for similar variation in the deposition time. Room-temperature conductivity of the ZnO films deposited on glass substrates is at least two orders of magnitude higher than that of ZnO films deposited onto polyethylene terephthalate substrates under identical conditions. Hall-measurements show the maximum carrier concentration of the films on PET and glass substrate around 2.8 x 10 16 and 3.1 x 10 2 cm -3 , respectively. This report will provide newer applications of ZnO thin films in flexible display technology

  9. Surface modification of tantalum pentoxide coatings deposited by magnetron sputtering and correlation with cell adhesion and proliferation in in vitro tests

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zykova, A.; Safonov, V.; Goltsev, A.; Dubrava, T.; Rossokha, I.; Donkov, N.; Yakovin, S.; Kolesnikov, D.; Goncharov, I.; Georgieva, V.

    2016-03-01

    The effect was analyzed of surface treatment by argon ions on the surface properties of tantalum pentoxide coatings deposited by reactive magnetron sputtering. The structural parameters of the as-deposited coatings were investigated by means of transmission electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. X-ray diffraction profiles and X-ray photoelectron spectra were also acquired. The total surface free energy (SFE), the polar, dispersion parts and fractional polarities, were estimated by the Owens-Wendt-Rabel-Kaeble method. The adhesive and proliferative potentials of bone marrow cells were evaluated for both Ta2O5 coatings and Ta2O5 coatings deposited by simultaneous bombardment by argon ions in in vitro tests.

  10. Coating multilayer material with improved tribological properties obtained by magnetron sputtering

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mateescu, A. O.; Mateescu, G.; Balasoiu, M.; Pompilian, G. O.; Lungu, M.

    2017-02-01

    This work is based on the Patent no. RO 128094 B1, granted by the Romanian State Office for Inventions and Trademarks. The goal of the work is to obtain for investigations tribological coatings with multilayer structure with improved tribological properties, deposited by magnetron sputtering process from three materials (sputtering targets). Starting from compound chemical materials (TiC, TiB2 and WC), as sputtering targets, by deposition in argon atmosphere on polished stainless steel, we have obtained, based on the claims of the above patent, thin films of multilayer design with promising results regarding their hardness, elastic modulus, adherence, coefficient of friction and wear resistance. The sputtering process took place in a special sequence in order to ensure better tribological properties to the coating, comparing to those of the individual component materials. The tribological properties, such as the coefficient of friction, are evaluated using the tribometer test.

  11. Comparison of Cu(In, Ga)Se{sub 2} thin films deposited on different preferred oriented Mo back contact by RF sputtering from a quaternary target

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Tian, Jing [Sichuan University, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Chengdu (China); Solar Energy Research Institute, Yunnan Normal University, Education Ministry Key Laboratory of Renewable Energy Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Technology, Kunming (China); Peng, Lianqin; Chen, Jinwei; Wang, Gang; Wang, Xueqin; Kang, Hong; Wang, Ruilin [Sichuan University, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Chengdu (China)

    2014-09-15

    The Cu(In, Ga)Se{sub 2} (CIGS) thin films were deposited on bare glass and DC sputtered preferential oriented Mo-coated glass by RF sputtering from a single quaternary target. The structural and morphological properties of the films were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscope, energy dispersive X-ray spectrometer (EDS) and atomic force microscope (AFM). Preferred orientation of the Mo back contact was tuned between (110) and (211) plane by controlling the thickness. All the deposited CIGS thin films show (112) preferred oriented chalcopyrite structures. The films prepared on Mo-coated glass show higher quality crystallinity, better stoichiometry composition and more smooth surface morphology. Especially, the film on (211) oriented Mo-coated glass with the best integrated performance is expected to be a candidate absorber for high-efficiency CIGS solar cell device. (orig.)

  12. Physical vapor deposition of cubic boron nitride thin films

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kester, D.J.

    1991-01-01

    Cubic boron nitride was successfully deposited using physical vapor-deposition methods. RF-sputtering, magnetron sputtering, dual-ion-beam deposition, and ion-beam-assisted evaporation were all used. The ion-assisted evaporation, using boron evaporation and bombardment by nitrogen and argon ions, led to successful cubic boron nitride growth over the widest and most controllable range of conditions. It was found that two factors were important for c-BN growth: bombardment of the growing film and the presence of argon. A systematic study of the deposition conditions was carried out. It was found that the value of momentum transferred into the growing from by the bombarding ions was critical. There was a very narrow transition range in which mixed cubic and hexagonal phase films were prepared. Momentum-per-atom value took into account all the variables involved in ion-assisted deposition: deposition rate, ion energy, ion flux, and ion species. No other factor led to the same control of the process. The role of temperature was also studied; it was found that at low temperatures only mixed cubic and hexagonal material are deposited

  13. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy investigation of ion beam sputtered indium tin oxide films as a function of oxygen pressure during deposition

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nelson, A.J.; Aharoni, H.

    1987-01-01

    X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis was performed on ion beam sputter deposited films of indium tin oxide as a function of O 2 partial pressure during deposition. The oxygen partial pressure was varied over the range of 2.5 x 10 -6 --4.0 x 10 -5 Torr. Changes in composition as well as in the deconvoluted In 3d 5 /sub // 2 , Sn 3d 5 /sub // 2 , and O 1s core level spectra were observed and correlated with the variation of the oxygen partial pressure during deposition. Results show that the films become increasingly stoichiometric as P/sub =/ is increased and that the excess oxygen introduced during deposition is bound predominantly to the Sn and has little or no effect on the In--O bonding

  14. Structure of AlN films deposited by magnetron sputtering method

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nowakowska-Langier K.

    2015-09-01

    Full Text Available AlN films on a Si substrate were synthesized by magnetron sputtering method. A dual magnetron system operating in AC mode was used in the experiment. Processes of synthesis were carried out in the atmosphere of a mixture of Ar/N2. Morphology and phase structure of the AlN films were investigated at different pressures. Structural characterizations were performed by means of SEM and X-ray diffraction methods. Our results show that the use of magnetron sputtering method in a dual magnetron sputtering system is an effective way to produce AlN layers which are characterized by a good adhesion to the silicon substrate. The morphology of the films is strongly dependent on the Ar/N2 gas mixture pressure. An increase of the mixture pressure is accompanied by a columnar growth of the layers. The films obtained at the pressure below 1 Pa are characterized by finer and compacter structure. The AlN films are characterized by a polycrystalline hexagonal (wurtzite structure in which the crystallographic orientation depends on the gas mixture pressure.

  15. Influence of R.F. sputter parameters on the magnetic orientation of Co-Cr layers

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Lodder, J.C.; Wielinga, T.

    1984-01-01

    Co-Cr layers for the perpendicular recording mode were deposited by means of RF-sputtering. The most important sputter parameters, i.e. the RF sputter high voltage VRF, the argon pressure Par and the substrate holder temperature Tsh, gave an optimum value for perpendicular orientation of the

  16. Properties of Co-deposited indium tin oxide and zinc oxide films using a bipolar pulse power supply and a dual magnetron sputter source

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hwang, Man-Soo; Seob Jeong, Heui; Kim, Won Mok; Seo, Yong Woon

    2003-01-01

    Multilayer coatings consisting of metal layers sandwiched between transparent conducting oxide layers are widely used for flat panel display electrodes and electromagnetic shield coatings for plasma displays, due to their high electrical conductivity and light transmittance. The electrical and optical properties of these multilayer films depend largely on the surface characteristics of the transparent conducting oxide thin films. A smoother surface on the transparent conducting oxide thin films makes it easier for the metal layer to form a continuous film, thus resulting in a higher conductivity and visible light transmittance. Indium tin oxide (ITO) and zinc oxide (ZnO) films were co-deposited using a dual magnetron sputter and a bipolar pulse power supply to decrease the surface roughness of the transparent conducting oxide films. The symmetric pulse mode of the power supply was used to simultaneously sputter an In 2 O 3 (90 wt %) : SnO 2 (10 wt %) target and a ZnO target. We varied the duty of the pulses to control the ratio of ITO : ZnO in the thin films. The electrical and optical properties of the films were studied, and special attention was paid to the surface roughness and the crystallinity of the films. By co-depositing ITO and ZnO at a pulse duty ratio of ITO:ZnO=45:45 using a dual magnetron sputter and a bipolar pulse power supply, we were able to obtain amorphous transparent conducting oxide films with a very smooth surface which had a Zn-rich buffer layer under a In-rich surface layer. All of the films exhibited typical electrical and optical properties of transparent conducting oxide films deposited at room temperature

  17. Characterization of TiO2 Thin Films on Glass Substrate Growth Using DC Sputtering Technique

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Agus Santoso; Tjipto Sujitno; Sayono

    2002-01-01

    It has been fabricated and characterization a TiO 2 thin films deposited on glass substrate using DC sputtering technique. Fabrication of TiO 2 thin films were carried out at electrode voltage 4 kV, sputtering current 5 mA, vacuum pressure 5 x 10 -4 torr, deposition time 150 minutes, and temperature of the substrate were varied from 150 -350 o C, while as a gas sputter was argon. The results was tested their micro structure using SEM, and crystal structure using XRD and found that the crystal structure of TiO 2 powder before deposited on glass substrate was rutile and anatase with orientation (110) and (200) for anatase and (100) and (111) rutile structure. While the crystal structure which deposited at temperature 150 o C and deposition time 2.5 hours was anatase with orientation (001) and (200). (author)

  18. Design and capabilities of an experimental setup based on magnetron sputtering for formation and deposition of size-selected metal clusters on ultra-clean surfaces

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hartmann, Hannes; Popok, Vladimir; Barke, Ingo

    2012-01-01

    The design and performance of an experimental setup utilizing a magnetron sputtering source for production of beams of ionized size-selected clusters for deposition in ultra-high vacuum is described. For the case of copper cluster formation the influence of different source parameters is studied...

  19. Effects of deposition and post-annealing conditions on electrical properties and thermal stability of TiAlN films by ion beam sputter deposition

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lee, S.-Y.; Wang, S.-C.; Chen, J.-S.; Huang, J.-L.

    2006-01-01

    TiAlN films were deposited by ion beam sputter deposition (IBSD) using a Ti-Al (90/10) alloy target in a nitrogen atmosphere on thermal oxidized Si wafers. Effects of ion beam voltage, substrate temperature (T s ) and post-annealing conditions on electrical properties and oxidation resistance of TiAlN films were studied. According to the experimental results, the proper kinetic energy provided good crystallinity and a dense structure of the films. Because of their better crystallinity and predomination of (200) planes, TiAlN films deposited with 900 V at low T s (50 deg. C) have shown lower resistivity than those at high T s (250 deg. C). They also showed better oxidation resistance. If the beam voltage was too high, it caused some damage to the film surfaces, which caused poor oxidation resistance of films. When sufficient kinetic energy was provided by the beam voltage, the mobility of adatoms was too high due to their extra thermal energy, thus reducing the crystallinity and structure density of the films. A beam voltage of 900 V and a substrate temperature of 50 deg. C were the optimum deposition conditions used in this research. They provided good oxidation resistance and low electrical resistivity for IBSD TiAlN films

  20. Performance comparison of small-pixel CdZnTe radiation detectors with gold contacts formed by sputter and electroless deposition

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bell, S. J.; Baker, M. A.; Duarte, D. D.; Schneider, A.; Seller, P.; Sellin, P. J.; Veale, M. C.; Wilson, M. D.

    2017-06-01

    Recent improvements in the growth of wide-bandgap semiconductors, such as cadmium zinc telluride (CdZnTe or CZT), has enabled spectroscopic X/γ-ray imaging detectors to be developed. These detectors have applications covering homeland security, industrial analysis, space science and medical imaging. At the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (RAL) a promising range of spectroscopic, position sensitive, small-pixel Cd(Zn)Te detectors have been developed. The challenge now is to improve the quality of metal contacts on CdZnTe in order to meet the demanding energy and spatial resolution requirements of these applications. The choice of metal deposition method and fabrication process are of fundamental importance. Presented is a comparison of two CdZnTe detectors with contacts formed by sputter and electroless deposition. The detectors were fabricated with a 74 × 74 array of 200 μm pixels on a 250 μm pitch and bump-bonded to the HEXITEC ASIC. The X/γ-ray emissions from an 241Am source were measured to form energy spectra for comparison. It was found that the detector with contacts formed by electroless deposition produced the best uniformity and energy resolution; the best pixel produced a FWHM of 560 eV at 59.54 keV and 50% of pixels produced a FWHM better than 1.7 keV . This compared with a FWHM of 1.5 keV for the best pixel and 50% of pixels better than 4.4 keV for the detector with sputtered contacts.

  1. Design of tunable ultraviolet (UV) absorbance by controlling the Agsbnd Al co-sputtering deposition

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Xin-Yuan; Chen, Lei; Wang, Yaxin; Zhang, Yongjun; Yang, Jinghai; Choi, Hyun Chul; Jung, Young Mee

    2018-05-01

    Changing the structure and composition of a material can alter its properties; hence, the controlled fabrication of metal nanostructures plays a key role in a wide range of applications. In this study, the structure of Agsbnd Al ordered arrays fabricated by co-sputtering deposition onto a monolayer colloidal crystal significantly increased its ultraviolet (UV) absorbance owing to a tunable localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) effect. By increasing the spacing between two nanospheres and the content of aluminum, absorbance in the UV region could be changed from UVA (320-400 nm) to UVC (200-275 nm), and the LSPR peak in the visible region gradually shifted to the UV region. This provides the potential for surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) in both the UV and visible regions.

  2. Molecular dynamics simulation of temperature effects on deposition of Cu film on Si by magnetron sputtering

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhu, Guo; Sun, Jiangping; Zhang, Libin; Gan, Zhiyin

    2018-06-01

    The temperature effects on the growth of Cu thin film on Si (0 0 1) in the context of magnetron sputtering deposition were systematically studied using molecular dynamics (MD) method. To improve the comparability of simulation results at varying temperatures, the initial status data of incident Cu atoms used in all simulations were read from an identical file via LAMMPS-Python interface. In particular, crystalline microstructure, interface mixing and internal stress of Cu thin film deposited at different temperatures were investigated in detail. With raising the substrate temperature, the interspecies mixed volume and the proportion of face-centered cubic (fcc) structure in the deposited film both increased, while the internal compressive stress decreased. It was found that the fcc structure in the deposited Cu thin films was 〈1 1 1〉 oriented, which was reasonably explained by surface energy minimization and the selectivity of bombardment energy to the crystalline planes. The quantified analysis of interface mixing revealed that the diffusion of Cu atoms dominated the interface mixing, and the injection of incident Cu atoms resulted in the densification of phase near the film-substrate interface. More important, the distribution of atomic stress indicated that the compressive stress was mainly originated from the film-substrate interface, which might be attributed to the densification of interfacial phase at the initial stage of film deposition.

  3. Photonometers for coating and sputtering machines

    Science.gov (United States)

    Oupický, P.; Jareš, D.; Václavík, J.; Vápenka, D.

    2013-04-01

    The concept of photonometers (alternative name of optical monitor of a vacuum deposition process) for coating and sputtering machines is based on photonometers produced by companies like SATIS or HV Dresden. Photometers were developed in the TOPTEC centre and its predecessor VOD (Optical Development Workshop of Institut of Plasma Physics AS CR) for more than 10 years. The article describes current status of the technology and ideas which will be incorporated in next development steps. Hardware and software used on coating machines B63D, VNA600 and sputtering machine UPM810 is presented.

  4. Radio frequency magnetron sputter-deposited indium tin oxide for use as a cathode in transparent organic light-emitting diode

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chung, Choong-Heui; Ko, Young-Wook; Kim, Yong-Hae; Sohn, Choong-Yong; Hye Yong Chu; Ko Park, Sang-Hee; Lee, Jin Ho

    2005-01-01

    Indium tin oxide (ITO) films were prepared by radio frequency magnetron sputtering at room temperature, for use as a cathode in a transparent organic light-emitting diode (TOLED). To minimize damage to the TOLED by the ITO sputtering process, the target-to-substrate distance was increased to 20 cm. An ITO film deposited at the optimum oxygen partial pressure exhibited an electrical resistivity as low as 4.06 x 10 -4 Ω cm and a high optical transmittance of 91% in the visible range. The film was used as a transparent cathode for a TOLED with structure of an ITO coated glass substrate / Naphthylphenyldiamide (60 nm) / Tris-(8-hydroxyquinoline) aluminum (60 nm) / LiF (1 nm) / Al (2 nm) / Ag (8 nm) / ITO cathode (100 nm). A maximum luminance of 37,000 cd/m 2 was obtained. The device performance was comparable to a conventional OLED

  5. Improving the growth of Ge/Si islands by modulating the spacing between screen and accelerator grids in ion beam sputtering deposition system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yang, Jie; Zhao, Bo; Wang, Chong; Qiu, Feng; Wang, Rongfei; Yang, Yu

    2016-01-01

    Highlights: • Ge islands were prepared by ion beam sputtering with different grid-to-grid gaps. • Ge islands with larger sizes and low density are observed in 1-mm-spaced samples. • The island growth was determined by sputter energy and the quality of Si buffer. • The crystalline volume fraction of buffer must be higher than 72% to grow islands. - Abstract: Ge islands were fabricated on Si buffer layer by ion beam sputtering deposition with a spacing between the screen and accelerator grids of either 1 mm or 2 mm. The Si buffer layer exhibits mixed-phase microcrystallinity for samples grown with 1 mm spacing and crystallinity for those with 2 mm spacing. Ge islands are larger and less dense than those grown on the crystalline buffer because of the selective growth mechanism on the microcrystalline buffer. Moreover, the nucleation site of Ge islands formed on the crystalline Si buffer is random. Ge islands grown at different grid-to-grid gaps are characterized by two key factors, namely, divergence half angle of ion beam and crystallinity of buffer layer. High grid-to-grid spacing results in small divergence half angle, thereby enhancing the sputtering energy and redistribution of sputtered atoms. The crystalline volume fraction of the microcrystalline Si buffer was obtained based on the integrated intensity ratio of Raman peaks. The islands show decreased density with decreasing crystalline volume fraction and are difficult to observe at crystalline volume fractions lower than 72%.

  6. Improving the growth of Ge/Si islands by modulating the spacing between screen and accelerator grids in ion beam sputtering deposition system

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Yang, Jie; Zhao, Bo [Institute of Optoelectronic Information Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Yunnan University, Kunming 650091 (China); Yunnan Key Laboratory for Micro/Nano Materials and Technology, Yunnan University, Kunming 650091 (China); Wang, Chong, E-mail: cwang@mail.sitp.ac.cn [Institute of Optoelectronic Information Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Yunnan University, Kunming 650091 (China); Yunnan Key Laboratory for Micro/Nano Materials and Technology, Yunnan University, Kunming 650091 (China); Qiu, Feng; Wang, Rongfei [Institute of Optoelectronic Information Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Yunnan University, Kunming 650091 (China); Yunnan Key Laboratory for Micro/Nano Materials and Technology, Yunnan University, Kunming 650091 (China); Yang, Yu, E-mail: yuyang@ynu.edu.cn [Institute of Optoelectronic Information Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Yunnan University, Kunming 650091 (China); Yunnan Key Laboratory for Micro/Nano Materials and Technology, Yunnan University, Kunming 650091 (China)

    2016-11-15

    Highlights: • Ge islands were prepared by ion beam sputtering with different grid-to-grid gaps. • Ge islands with larger sizes and low density are observed in 1-mm-spaced samples. • The island growth was determined by sputter energy and the quality of Si buffer. • The crystalline volume fraction of buffer must be higher than 72% to grow islands. - Abstract: Ge islands were fabricated on Si buffer layer by ion beam sputtering deposition with a spacing between the screen and accelerator grids of either 1 mm or 2 mm. The Si buffer layer exhibits mixed-phase microcrystallinity for samples grown with 1 mm spacing and crystallinity for those with 2 mm spacing. Ge islands are larger and less dense than those grown on the crystalline buffer because of the selective growth mechanism on the microcrystalline buffer. Moreover, the nucleation site of Ge islands formed on the crystalline Si buffer is random. Ge islands grown at different grid-to-grid gaps are characterized by two key factors, namely, divergence half angle of ion beam and crystallinity of buffer layer. High grid-to-grid spacing results in small divergence half angle, thereby enhancing the sputtering energy and redistribution of sputtered atoms. The crystalline volume fraction of the microcrystalline Si buffer was obtained based on the integrated intensity ratio of Raman peaks. The islands show decreased density with decreasing crystalline volume fraction and are difficult to observe at crystalline volume fractions lower than 72%.

  7. Relationship between plasma parameters and film microstructure in radio frequency magnetron sputter deposition of barium strontium titanate

    Science.gov (United States)

    Panda, B.; Dhar, A.; Nigam, G. D.; Bhattacharya, D.; Ray, S. K.

    1998-01-01

    Radio frequency magnetron sputtered Ba0.8Sr0.2TiO3 thin films have been deposited on silicon and Si/SiO2/SiN/Pt substrates. The analysis of plasma discharge has been carried out using the Langmuir probe technique. Both the pressure and power have been found to influence the ion density and self-bias of the target. Introduction of oxygen into the discharge effectively decreases the ion density. The structural and electrical properties have been investigated using x-ray diffraction, atomic force microscopy of deposited films and capacitance-voltage, conductance-voltage, and current density-electric field characteristics of fabricated capacitors. The growth and orientation of the films have been found to depend upon the type of substrates and deposition temperatures. The texture in the film is promoted at a pressure 0.25 Torr with a moderately high value of ion density and low ion bombardment energy. Films deposited on Si/SiO2/SiN/Pt substrate have shown higher dielectric constant (191) and lower leakage current density (2.8×10-6 A/cm2 at 100 kV/cm) compared to that on silicon.

  8. Silicon transport in sputter-deposited tantalum layers grown under ion bombardment

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gallais, P.; Hantzpergue, J.J.; Remy, J.C.; Roptin, D.

    1988-01-01

    Tantalum was sputter deposited on (111) Si substrate under low-energy ion bombardment in order to study the effects of the ion energy on the silicon transport into the Ta layer. The Si substrate was heated up to 500 0 C during growth. For ion energies up to 180 eV silicon is not transported into tantalum and the growth temperature has no effect. An ion bombardment energy of 280 eV enhances the transport of silicon throughout the tantalum layer. Growth temperatures up to 300 0 C have no effect on the silicon transport which is mainly enhanced by the ion bombardment. For growth temperatures between 300 and 500 0 C, the silicon transport is also enhanced by the thermal diffusion. The experimental depth distribution of silicon is similar to the theoretical depth distribution calculated for the case of an interdiffusion. The ion-enhanced process of silicon transport is characterized by an activation energy of 0.4 eV. Silicon into the layers as-grown at 500 0 C is in both states, amorphous silicide and microcrystalline cubic silicon

  9. Structure of anodized Al–Zr sputter deposited coatings and effect on optical appearance

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Gudla, Visweswara Chakravarthy; Canulescu, Stela; Shabadi, Rajashekhara

    2014-01-01

    The mechanism of interaction of light with the microstructure of anodized layer giving specific optical appearance is investigated using Al–Zr sputter deposited coating as a model system on an AA6060 substrate. Differences in the oxidative nature of various microstructural components result...... in the evolution of typical features in the anodized layer, which are investigated as a function of microstructure and correlated with its optical appearance. The Zr concentration in the coating was varied from 6 wt.% to 23 wt.%. Heat treatment of the coated samples was carried out at 550°C for 4 h in order...... parameters and their influence on the interaction of light is investigated and the results in general are applicable to discolouration of anodized layer on recycled aluminium alloys due to intermetallics. © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved....

  10. Formation of carbon nanotubes in the graphite surface by Ar ion sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wang Zhenxia; Zhu Fuying; Wang Wenmin; Yu Guoqing; Ruan Meiling; Zhang Huiming; Zhu Jingping

    1998-01-01

    The authors have investigated structures and topography features of sputtered graphite surface using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and demonstrated that carbon nanotubes can be grown up by sputtered-atom deposition on a protrusion of topography feature

  11. Catalytic growth of ZnO nanostructures by r.f. magnetron sputtering

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Arroyo-Hernández María

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available Abstract The catalytic effect of gold seed particles deposited on a substrate prior to zinc oxide (ZnO thin film growth by magnetron sputtering was investigated. For this purpose, selected ultra thin gold layers, with thicknesses close to the percolation threshold, are deposited by thermal evaporation in ultra high vacuum (UHV conditions and subsequently annealed to form gold nanodroplets. The ZnO structures are subsequently deposited by r.f. magnetron sputtering in a UHV chamber, and possible morphological differences between the ZnO grown on top of the substrate and on the gold are investigated. The results indicate a moderate catalytic effect for a deposited gold underlayer of 4 nm, quite close to the gold thin film percolation thickness.

  12. Zinc sulfide thin films deposited by RF reactive sputtering for photovoltaic applications

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shao Lexi; Chang, K.-H.; Hwang, H.-L.

    2003-01-01

    Zinc sulfide (ZnS) thin films with nano-scale grains of about 50 nm were deposited on glass substrates at a substrate temperature of 200 deg. C via RF reactive sputtering by using zinc plate target and hydrogen sulfide gas. The structure, compositions, electrical and optical characteristics of the deposited films were investigated for the photovoltaic device applications. All films showed a near stoichiometric composition as indicated in their AES data. Distinct single crystalline phase with preferential orientation along the (0 0 0 1) plane of wurtzite or the (1 1 1) plane of zinc blende (ZB) was revealed in their X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns, and the spacing of the planes are well matched to those of (1 1 2) plane of the chalcopyrite CuInS 2 (CIS). UV-Vis measurement showed that the films had more than 65% transmittance in the wavelength larger than 350 nm, and the fundamental absorption edge shifted to shorter wavelength with the increase of sulfur incorporated in the films, which corresponds to an increase in the energy band gap ranging from 3.59 to 3.72 eV. It was found that ZnS films are suitable for use as the buffer layer of the CIS solar cells, and it is the viable alternative for replacing CdS in the photovoltaic cell structure

  13. Characterization of YBaCuO films deposited by the sputtering method using a temple-bell-type substrate holder

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kajikawa, H.; Fukumoto, Y.; Shibutani, K.; Hayashi, S.; Ishibashi, K.; Inoue, K.

    1992-01-01

    The as-grown YBaCuO films deposited by the off-axis sputtering method using a temple-bell type substrate holder showed a good crystalline quality with a minimum yield value x min of 0.9 MeV He ions of 3.8%. The post-annealing degraded the crystalline quality to increase x min up to 11.8%, though it improved both the T c and J c . It was supposed that the degradation was caused by the re-arrangement of oxygen atoms. (orig.)

  14. Structural and electrical properties of sputtering power and gas pressure on Ti-dope In2O3 transparent conductive films by RF magnetron sputtering

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chaoumead, Accarat; Joo, Bong-Hyun; Kwak, Dong-Joo; Sung, Youl-Moon

    2013-06-01

    Transparent conductive titanium-doped indium oxide (ITiO) films were deposited on Corning glass substrates by RF magnetron sputtering method. The effects of RF sputtering power and Ar gas pressure on the structural and electrical properties of the films were investigated experimentally, using a 2.5 wt% TiO2-doped In2O3 target. The deposition rate was in the range of around 20-60 nm/min under the experimental conditions of 5-20 mTorr of gas pressure and 220-350 W of RF power. The lowest resistivity of 1.2 × 10-4 Ω cm, the average optical transmittance of 75%, the high hall mobility of 47.03 cm2/V s and the relatively low carrier concentration of 1.15E+21 cm-3 were obtained for the ITiO film, prepared at RF power of 300 W and Ar gas pressure of 15 mTorr. This resistivity of 1.2 × 10-4 Ω cm is low enough as a transparent conducting layer in various electro-optical devices and it is comparable with that of ITO or ZnO:Al conducting layer.

  15. Study of working pressure on the optoelectrical properties of Al–Y codoped ZnO thin-film deposited using DC magnetron sputtering for solar cell applications

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hsu, Feng-Hao [Institute of Microelectronics, Department of Electrical Engineering, National Cheng Kung University, No. 1, Dasyue Road, East District, Tainan City 701, Taiwan (China); Wang, Na-Fu; Tsai, Yu-Zen; Chuang, Ming-Chieh; Cheng, Yu-Song [Department of Electronic Engineering, Cheng Shiu University, 840 Chengcing Road, Niaosong District, Kaohsiung City 833, Taiwan (China); Houng, Mau-Phon, E-mail: mphoung@eembox.ncku.edu.tw [Institute of Microelectronics, Department of Electrical Engineering, National Cheng Kung University, No. 1, Dasyue Road, East District, Tainan City 701, Taiwan (China)

    2013-09-01

    Low cost transparent conductive Al–Y codoped ZnO (AZOY) thin-films were prepared on a glass substrate using a DC magnetron sputtering technique with various working pressures in the range of 5–13 mTorr. The relationship among the structural, electrical, and optical properties of sputtered AZOY films was studied as a function of working pressure. The XRD measurements show that the crystallinity of the films degraded as the working gas pressure increased. The AZOY thin-film deposited at a working pressure of 5 mTorr exhibited the lowest electrical resistivity of 4.3 × 10{sup −4} Ω cm, carrier mobility of 30 cm{sup 2}/V s, highest carrier concentration of 4.9 × 10{sup 20} cm{sup −3}, and high transmittance in the visible region (400–800 nm) of approximately 90%. Compared with Al doped ZnO (AZO) thin-films deposited using DC or RF magnetron sputtering methods, a high carrier mobility was observed in our AZOY thin-films. This result can be used to effectively decrease the absorption of near infrared-rays in solar cell applications. The mechanisms are attributed to the larger transition energy between Ar atoms and sputtering particles and the size compensation of the dopants. Finally, the optimal quality AZOY thin-film was used as an emitter layer (or window layer) to form AZOY/n-Si heterojunction solar cells, which exhibited a stable conversion efficiency (η) of 9.4% under an AM1.5 illumination condition.

  16. Thermal conductivity of nitride films of Ti, Cr, and W deposited by reactive magnetron sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jagannadham, Kasichainula

    2015-01-01

    Nitride films of Ti, Cr, and W were deposited using reactive magnetron sputtering from metal targets in argon and nitrogen plasma. TiN films with (200) orientation were achieved on silicon (100) at the substrate temperature of 500 and 600 °C. The films were polycrystalline at lower temperature. An amorphous interface layer was observed between the TiN film and Si wafer deposited at 600 °C. TiN film deposited at 600 °C showed the nitrogen to Ti ratio to be near unity, but films deposited at lower temperature were nitrogen deficient. CrN film with (200) orientation and good stoichiometry was achieved at 600 °C on Si(111) wafer but the film deposited at 500 °C showed cubic CrN and hexagonal Cr 2 N phases with smaller grain size and amorphous back ground in the x-ray diffraction pattern. An amorphous interface layer was not observed in the cubic CrN film on Si(111) deposited at 600 °C. Nitride film of tungsten deposited at 600 °C on Si(100) wafer was nitrogen deficient, contained both cubic W 2 N and hexagonal WN phases with smaller grain size. Nitride films of tungsten deposited at 500 °C were nonstoichiometric and contained cubic W 2 N and unreacted W phases. There was no amorphous phase formed along the interface for the tungsten nitride film deposited at 600 °C on the Si wafer. Thermal conductivity and interface thermal conductance of all the nitride films of Ti, Cr, and W were determined by transient thermoreflectance technique. The thermal conductivity of the films as function of deposition temperature, microstructure, nitrogen stoichiometry and amorphous interaction layer at the interface was determined. Tungsten nitride film containing both cubic and hexagonal phases was found to exhibit much higher thermal conductivity and interface thermal conductance. The amorphous interface layer was found to reduce effective thermal conductivity of TiN and CrN films

  17. Preparation and characterization of magnetic nanostructures based on FeCo / IrMn deposited by cathode sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pereira, Saulo Milani

    2011-01-01

    Spintronic devices based in the transport of spin polarized current, spin's torque and other related phenomena represent big promises in the scenery of the technological miniaturization of current electronic devices. Magnetic materials of great technological relevance for different areas deal with, despite some exceptions, films and multilayered structures with high complexity. Advances on these fields require the control of those structures in atomic scale, in order to be able to tailor their physical properties. The purpose of this work is the preparation of multilayered structures by sputtering, as well the study of magnetic phenomena involved in this structures. The aim is to produce a spin valve. This is a multilayer structure composed of two ferromagnetic layers, separated by a non magnetic spacer. The magnetisation of one of the ferromagnetic layers is free to rotate under the effect of small external fields, whilst the magnetisation of the other ferromagnetic layer remains fixed by means exchange coupling to a antiferromagnetic layer. The structure is tailored to allow the small applied magnetic fields to switch the magnetisation of the ferromagnetic layers from antiparallel state to a parallel state resulting in the variation of the electrical resistivity of the structure (GMR effect). Optimization of deposition conditions was required to obtain structures with exchange bias coupling, and antiferromagnetic coupling through a non magnetic spacer. The correlation between the deposition conditions and the magnetic properties of the films was studied. The work presented in this dissertation has contributed to the characterisation of both magnetic thin films, which can be used on the production of magnetic sensors, and the new sputtering system assembled in the Applied Physics Laboratory of CDTN. (author)

  18. Development of an ion-beam sputtering system for depositing thin films and multilayers of alloys and compounds

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gupta, Mukul; Gupta, Ajay; Phase, D.M.; Chaudhari, S.M.; Dasannacharya, B.A.

    2002-01-01

    An ion-beam sputtering (IBS) system has been designed and developed for preparing thin films and multilayers of various elements, alloys and compounds. The ion source used is a 3 cm diameter, hot-cathode Kaufman type 1.5 kV ion source. The system has been successfully tested with the deposition of various materials, and the deposition parameters were optimised for achieving good quality of thin films and multilayers. A systematic illustration of the versatility of the system to produce a variety of structures is done by depositing thin film of pure iron, an alloy film of Fe-Zr, a compound thin film of FeN, a multilayer of Fe-Ag and an isotopic multilayer of 57 FeZr/FeZr. Microstructural measurements on these films using X-ray and neutron reflectivity, atomic force microscopy (AFM), and X-ray diffraction are presented and discussed to reveal the quality of the microstructures obtained with the system. It is found that in general, the surface roughnesses of the film deposited by IBS are significantly smaller as compared to those for films deposited by e-beam evaporation. Further, the grain size of the IBS crystalline films is significantly refined as compared to the films deposited by e-beam evaporation. Grain refinement may be one of the reasons for reduced surface roughness. In the case of amorphous films, the roughness of the films does not increase appreciably beyond that of the substrate even after depositing thicknesses of several hundred angstroms

  19. The improvement of all-solid-state electrochromic devices fabricated with the reactive sputter and cathodic arc technology

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Min-Chuan Wang

    2016-11-01

    Full Text Available The all-solid-state electrochromic device (ECD with the one substrate structure fabricated by the reactive dc magnetron sputtering (DCMS and cathodic vacuum arc plasma (CVAP technology has been developed for smart electrochromic (EC glass application. The EC layer and ion conductor layer were deposited by reactive DCMS and CVAP technology, respectively. The ion conductor layer Ta2O5 deposited by the CVAP technology has provided the better porous material structure for ion transportation and showed 1.76 times ion conductivity than devices with all sputtering process. At the same time, the EC layer WO3 and NiO deposited by the reactive DCMS have also provided the high quality and uniform characteristic to overcome the surface roughness effect of the CVAP ion conductor layer in multilayer device structure. The all-solid-state ECD with the CVAP ion conductor layer has demonstrated a maximum transmittance variation (ΔT of 55% at 550nm and a faster-switching speed. Furthermore, the lower equipment cost and higher deposition rate could be achieved by the application of CVAP technology.

  20. Structure and corrosion behavior of sputter deposited cerium oxide based coatings with various thickness on Al 2024-T3 alloy substrates

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Liu, Yuanyuan [College of Materials Science and Engineering, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400045 (China); Materials Research Center, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Missouri University of Science and Technology, Rolla, MO 65409 (United States); Huang, Jiamu, E-mail: huangjiamu@cqu.edu.cn [College of Materials Science and Engineering, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400045 (China); Claypool, James B.; Castano, Carlos E. [Materials Research Center, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Missouri University of Science and Technology, Rolla, MO 65409 (United States); O’Keefe, Matthew J., E-mail: mjokeefe@mst.edu [Materials Research Center, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Missouri University of Science and Technology, Rolla, MO 65409 (United States)

    2015-11-15

    Highlights: • Crystalline CeO{sub 2} coatings are deposited on Al 2024-T3 alloys by magnetron sputtering. • The crystal size and internal stress both increased with the thickness of CeO{sub 2} coating. • The ∼210 nm thick coating has the highest adhesion strength to the Al alloy substrate. • The ∼900 nm thick coating increased the corrosion resistance two orders of magnitude. • CeO{sub 2} coatings provide good cathodic inhibition for Al alloys by acting as physical barriers. - Abstract: Cerium oxide based coatings from ∼100 to ∼1400 nm in thickness were deposited onto Al 2024-T3 alloy substrates by magnetron sputtering of a 99.99% pure CeO{sub 2} target. The crystallite size of CeO{sub 2} coatings increased from 15 nm to 46 nm as the coating thickness increased from ∼100 nm to ∼1400 nm. The inhomogeneous lattice strain increased from 0.36% to 0.91% for the ∼100 nm to ∼900 nm thick coatings and slightly decreased to 0.89% for the ∼1400 nm thick coating. The highest adhesion strength to Al alloy substrates was for the ∼210 nm thick coating, due to a continuous film coverage and low internal stress. Electrochemical measurements indicated that sputter deposited crystalline CeO{sub 2} coatings acted as physical barriers that provide good cathodic inhibition for Al alloys in saline solution. The ∼900 nm thick CeO{sub 2} coated sample had the best corrosion performance that increased the corrosion resistance by two orders magnitude and lowered the cathodic current density 30 times compared to bare Al 2024-T3 substrates. The reduced defects and exposed surface, along with suppressed charge mobility, likely accounts for the improved corrosion performance as coating thickness increased from ∼100 nm to ∼900 nm. The corrosion performance decreased for ∼1400 nm thick coatings due in part to an increase in coating defects and porosity along with a decrease in adhesion strength.

  1. Non-stoichiometry of MoS2 phase prepared by sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ito, T.; Nakajima, K.

    1978-01-01

    The lattice parameters and S/Mo atomic ratio in sputtered MoS 2 films have been examined as a function of sputtering conditions, especially the vacuum pressure in the chamber. It was found that the deposited films had a defect MoS 2 structure ranging from 1.6 to 2 in S/Mo ratio, depending on the pressure. (author)

  2. MnO2 ultrathin films deposited by means of magnetron sputtering: Relationships between process conditions, structural properties and performance in transparent supercapacitors

    Science.gov (United States)

    Borysiewicz, Michał A.; Wzorek, Marek; Myśliwiec, Marcin; Kaczmarski, Jakub; Ekielski, Marek

    2016-12-01

    This study focuses on the relationships between the process parameters during magnetron sputter deposition of MnO2 and the resulting film properties. Three MnO2 phases were identified - γ, β and λ and the dependence of MnO2 phase presence on the oxygen content in the sputtering atmosphere was found. Selected MnO2 phases were subsequently applied as ultrathin coatings on top of nanostructured ZnO electrodes for transparent supercapacitors with LiCl-based gel electrolyte. The films containing λ-MnO2 exhibited both the highest optical transparency of 62% at 550 nm as well as the highest specific capacitance in the supercapacitor structure, equal to 73.1 μF/cm2. Initially lower, the capacitance was elevated by charge-discharge conditioning.

  3. The effect of sputter-deposition conditions on the coercive force in amorphous rare-earth - transition-metal thin films

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Davies, C.F.; Somekh, R.E.; Evetts, J.E.; Storey, P.A.

    1988-01-01

    The origins of the coercive force in amorphous rare earth - transition metal films have been investigated, the results being discussed in terms of how the growth conditions of the sputter-deposited films determine the pinning features which cause the coercive force. The authors have studied the variation of coercive force with film thickness and developed a model which enables a local pinning force per unit area to be deduced. This suggests that it should be possible to increase the coercive force by breaking up the microstructure with a multi-layered structure. An increase in coercive force obtained by making such structures with tungsten is described. They also report on the reduction in coercive force obtained when the films are deposited in the presence of a perpendicular magnetic field

  4. Characterization of Cr-O cermet solar selective coatings deposited by using direct-current magnetron sputtering technology

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lee, Kil Dong

    2006-01-01

    Cr-O (Cr-CrO) cermet solar selective coatings with a double cermet layer film structure were prepared by using a special direct-current (dc) magnetron sputtering technology. The typical film structure from the surface to the bottom substrate was an Al 2 O 3 anti-reflection layer on a double Cr-O cermet layer on an Al metal infrared reflection layer. The deposited Cr-O cermet solar selective coating had an absorptance of α = 0.93 - 0.95 and an emittance of ε = 0.09 - 0.10(100 .deg. C). The absorption layers of the Cr-O cermet coatings deposited on glass and silicon substrates were identified as being amorphous by using X-ray diffraction (XRD). Atomic force microscopy (AFM) showed that Cr-O cermet layers were very smooth and that their grain sizes were very small. The result of thermal stability test showed that the Cr-O cermet solar selective coating was stable for use at temperatures of under 400 .deg. C.

  5. Sputtering and reflection of self-bombardment of tungsten material

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Niu, Guo-jian; Li, Xiao-chun; Xu, Qian; Yang, Zhong-shi; Luo, Guang-nan

    2015-01-01

    In present research, the sputtering and reflection yield of self-bombardment of tungsten are investigated with the aid of molecular dynamics simulations. The source of sputtered and reflected atoms is detected by traced the original locations of sputtered and reflected atoms. Results show that for the reflected atoms no specific region exists which means cluster atoms are randomly reflected. But almost all of sputtered atoms are from a conical region under the landing point of cluster. So we can determine the sputtering yield by study the dimension of the sputtering region. Molecular dynamics shows the depth and radius of the conical are power functions of impacting energy. The effects of cluster size and temperature of target on sputtering and reflection rate are also preformed in present study. Both sputtering and reflection yield are proportion to cluster size in present cluster size, i.e. 66–2647 atoms. Higher target temperature can increase sputtering yield and deduce sputtering threshold energy, but little effect on reflection rate

  6. Sputtering and reflection of self-bombardment of tungsten material

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Niu, Guo-jian [University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei (China); Institute of Plasma Physics Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei (China); Li, Xiao-chun; Xu, Qian; Yang, Zhong-shi [Institute of Plasma Physics Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei (China); Luo, Guang-nan, E-mail: gnluo@ipp.ac.cn [University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei (China); Institute of Plasma Physics Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei (China); Hefei Center for Physical Science and Technology, Hefei (China); Hefei Science Center of CAS, Hefei (China)

    2015-04-15

    In present research, the sputtering and reflection yield of self-bombardment of tungsten are investigated with the aid of molecular dynamics simulations. The source of sputtered and reflected atoms is detected by traced the original locations of sputtered and reflected atoms. Results show that for the reflected atoms no specific region exists which means cluster atoms are randomly reflected. But almost all of sputtered atoms are from a conical region under the landing point of cluster. So we can determine the sputtering yield by study the dimension of the sputtering region. Molecular dynamics shows the depth and radius of the conical are power functions of impacting energy. The effects of cluster size and temperature of target on sputtering and reflection rate are also preformed in present study. Both sputtering and reflection yield are proportion to cluster size in present cluster size, i.e. 66–2647 atoms. Higher target temperature can increase sputtering yield and deduce sputtering threshold energy, but little effect on reflection rate.

  7. An introduction to closed field sputtering (CFS) equipment

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sugden, G.B.

    1979-01-01

    Ways have been sought to develop the vacuum sputtering process to reduce the source material temperature and to increase the deposition rate. A new industrial plating method superior to vacuum evaporation and electroplating has emerged. In this 'closed field sputtering' processes an electric field is applied between a coaxial anode and cathode and a magnetic field applied orthogonally to the electric field. Providing the flux density of the magnetic field is above a critical value no electrons flow to the anode but move along the magnetic lines around the cathode, enclosed in the magnetic field. A high density electron cloud with high ionization probability is therefore maintained. Low temperature sputtering can be attained due to very low energy loss of electrons at the anode. A pressure of about (2-5) x 10(-4) torr is used. High power can be applied to the equipment without producing much heat. It enables a large number of plastic parts to be coated with almost any nonmagnetic metal and alloys of metals on a commercial basis. It is also possible to produce coatings of oxides. nitrides and carbides of metals. The method of operation and a description of the equipment are given. Applications include car exteriors, household appliances, furniture toys and the electronics industry. (UK)

  8. Study of Au- production in a plasma-sputter type negative ion source

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Okabe, Yushirou.

    1991-10-01

    A negative ion source of plasma-sputter type has been constructed for the purpose of studying physical processes which take place in the ion source. Negative ions of gold are produced on the gold target which is immersed in an argon discharge plasma and biased negatively with respect to the plasma. The work function of the target surface was lowered by the deposition of Cs on the target. An in-situ method has been developed to determine the work function of the target surface in the ion source under discharge conditions. The observed minimum work function of a cesiated gold surface in an argon plasma was 1.3 eV, when the negative ion production rate took the maximum value. The production rate increased monotonically and saturated when the surface work function was reduced from 1.9 eV to 1.3 eV. The dependence of Au - production rate on the incident ion energy and on the number of the incident ion was studied. From the experimental results, it is shown that the sputtering process is an important physical process for the negative ion production in the plasma-sputter type negative ion source. The energy distribution function was also measured. When the bias voltage was smaller than 280 V, the high energy component in the distribution decreased as the target voltage was decreased. Therefore, the energy spread ΔE, of the observed negative ion energy distribution also decreased. This tendency is also seen in the energy spectrum of Cu atoms sputtered in normal direction by Ar + ions. (J.P.N.)

  9. Silicon oxynitride films deposited by reactive high power impulse magnetron sputtering using nitrous oxide as a single-source precursor

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hänninen, Tuomas, E-mail: tuoha@ifm.liu.se; Schmidt, Susann; Jensen, Jens; Hultman, Lars; Högberg, Hans [Thin Film Physics Division, Department of Physics, Chemistry, and Biology (IFM), Linköping University, Linköping SE-581 83 (Sweden)

    2015-09-15

    Silicon oxynitride thin films were synthesized by reactive high power impulse magnetron sputtering of silicon in argon/nitrous oxide plasmas. Nitrous oxide was employed as a single-source precursor supplying oxygen and nitrogen for the film growth. The films were characterized by elastic recoil detection analysis, x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, x-ray diffraction, x-ray reflectivity, scanning electron microscopy, and spectroscopic ellipsometry. Results show that the films are silicon rich, amorphous, and exhibit a random chemical bonding structure. The optical properties with the refractive index and the extinction coefficient correlate with the film elemental composition, showing decreasing values with increasing film oxygen and nitrogen content. The total percentage of oxygen and nitrogen in the films is controlled by adjusting the gas flow ratio in the deposition processes. Furthermore, it is shown that the film oxygen-to-nitrogen ratio can be tailored by the high power impulse magnetron sputtering-specific parameters pulse frequency and energy per pulse.

  10. Electronic properties of single Ge/Si quantum dot grown by ion beam sputtering deposition.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, C; Ke, S Y; Yang, J; Hu, W D; Qiu, F; Wang, R F; Yang, Y

    2015-03-13

    The dependence of the electronic properties of a single Ge/Si quantum dot (QD) grown by the ion-beam sputtering deposition technique on growth temperature and QD diameter is investigated by conductive atomic force microscopy (CAFM). The Si-Ge intermixing effect is demonstrated to be important for the current distribution of single QDs. The current staircase induced by the Coulomb blockade effect is observed at higher growth temperatures (>700 °C) due to the formation of an additional barrier between dislocated QDs and Si substrate for the resonant tunneling of holes. According to the proposed single-hole-tunneling model, the fact that the intermixing effect is observed to increase as the incoherent QD size decreases may explain the increase in the starting voltage of the current staircase and the decrease in the current step width.

  11. Room-Temperature Growth of SiC Thin Films by Dual-Ion-Beam Sputtering Deposition

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    C. G. Jin

    2008-01-01

    Full Text Available Silicon carbide (SiC films were prepared by single and dual-ion-beamsputtering deposition at room temperature. An assisted Ar+ ion beam (ion energy Ei = 150 eV was directed to bombard the substrate surface to be helpful for forming SiC films. The microstructure and optical properties of nonirradicated and assisted ion-beam irradicated films have been characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM, scanning electron microscopy (SEM, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR, and Raman spectra. TEM result shows that the films are amorphous. The films exposed to a low-energy assisted ion-beam irradicated during sputtering from a-SiC target have exhibited smoother and compacter surface topography than which deposited with nonirradicated. The ion-beam irradicated improves the adhesion between film and substrate and releases the stress between film and substrate. With assisted ion-beam irradicated, the density of the Si–C bond in the film has increased. At the same time, the excess C atoms or the size of the sp2 bonded clusters reduces, and the a-Si phase decreases. These results indicate that the composition of the film is mainly Si–C bond.

  12. Effects of oxygen partial pressure on structural and gasochromic properties of sputtered VOx thin films

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Jang, Wei-Luen [National Synchrotron Radiation Research Center (NSRRC), Hsinchu 30076, Taiwan (China); Lu, Yang-Ming [Department of Electrical Engineering, National University of Tainan, Tainan 70005, Taiwan (China); Lu, Ying-Rui [National Synchrotron Radiation Research Center (NSRRC), Hsinchu 30076, Taiwan (China); Program for Science and Technology of Accelerator Light Source, National Chiao Tung University, Hsinchu 30010, Taiwan (China); Chen, Chi-Liang [Institute of Physics, Academia Sinica, Taipei 11529, Taiwan (China); Dong, Chung-Li, E-mail: dong.cl@nsrrc.org.tw [National Synchrotron Radiation Research Center (NSRRC), Hsinchu 30076, Taiwan (China); Chou, Wu-Ching [Department of Electrophysics, National Chiao Tung University, Hsinchu 30010, Taiwan (China); Chen, Jeng-Lung; Chan, Ting-Shan; Lee, Jyh-Fu; Pao, Chih-Wen [National Synchrotron Radiation Research Center (NSRRC), Hsinchu 30076, Taiwan (China); Hwang, Weng-Sing [Department of Materials Science and Engineering, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan 70101, Taiwan (China)

    2013-10-01

    VOx films were deposited by radio-frequency reactive magnetron sputtering from a vanadium target in an Ar–O{sub 2} gas mixture and pure O{sub 2}. For the films deposited in the gas mixture, the Ar flow rate was controlled at 20 sccm and the oxygen flow rate was controlled at 1, 3, and 5 sccm, respectively. A thin (∼ 5 nm) Pt layer was deposited on the VOx thin films as a hydrogen catalyst. The long-range structural order, short-range atom arrangement, and gasochromic properties of the deposited films were studied. The grazing incidence X-ray diffraction (GIXRD) results indicate that the deposited films are amorphous. Lamellar structures were found at oxygen flow rates of 3 sccm and above. The X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) results show that the short-range atom arrangement of the lamellar VOx thin films is similar to that of crystal V{sub 2}O{sub 5}. The GIXRD and XAS results show that the film obtained with the gas mixture and at an oxygen flow rate of 1 sccm did not significantly change after exposure to hydrogen, whereas the other films exhibited decreased interlayer distance, oxidation state, and crystallinity. The color of the films changed from light or deep yellow to gray. The results suggest that the gasochromic properties of the VOx thin films are related to the V{sub 2}O{sub 5}-like atom arrangement and the interlayer distance of the lamellar structure. The films deposited with an oxygen flow rate of 3 sccm and above can be applied to H{sub 2} gas sensors. - Highlights: • Sputtered VOx film capped by Pt have potential for application in hydrogen sensor. • We present the X-ray absorption spectroscopy study of the gasochromic VOx films. • Correlation of gasochromism and electronic structure of VOx film were studied. • Correlation of gasochromism and atomic structure were investigated.

  13. A global plasma model for reactive deposition of compound films by modulated pulsed power magnetron sputtering discharges

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zheng, B. C.; Wu, Z. L.; Wu, B.; Li, Y. G.; Lei, M. K.

    2017-05-01

    A spatially averaged, time-dependent global plasma model has been developed to describe the reactive deposition of a TiAlSiN thin film by modulated pulsed power magnetron sputtering (MPPMS) discharges in Ar/N2 mixture gas, based on the particle balance and the energy balance in the ionization region, and considering the formation and erosion of the compound at the target surface. The modeling results show that, with increasing the N2 partial pressure from 0% to 40% at a constant working pressure of 0.3 Pa, the electron temperature during the strongly ionized period increases from 4 to 7 eV and the effective power transfer coefficient, which represents the power fraction that effectively heats the electrons and maintains the discharge, increases from about 4% to 7%; with increasing the working pressure from 0.1 to 0.7 Pa at a constant N2 partial pressure of 25%, the electron temperature decreases from 10 to 4 eV and the effective power transfer coefficient decreases from 8% to 5%. Using the modeled plasma parameters to evaluate the kinetic energy of arriving ions, the ion-to-neutral flux ratio of deposited species, and the substrate heating, the variations of process parameters that increase these values lead to an enhanced adatom mobility at the target surface and an increased input energy to the substrate, corresponding to the experimental observation of surface roughness reduction, the microstructure transition from the columnar structure to the dense featureless structure, and the enhancement of phase separation. At higher N2 partial pressure or lower working pressure, the modeling results demonstrate an increase in electron temperature, which shifts the discharge balance of Ti species from Ti+ to Ti2+ and results in a higher return fraction of Ti species, corresponding to the higher Al/Ti ratio of deposited films at these conditions. The modeling results are well correlated with the experimental observation of the composition variation and the microstructure

  14. Photonometers for coating and sputtering machines

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Václavík J.

    2013-05-01

    Full Text Available The concept of photonometers (alternative name of optical monitor of a vacuum deposition process for coating and sputtering machines is based on photonometers produced by companies like SATIS or HV Dresden. Photometers were developed in the TOPTEC centre and its predecessor VOD (Optical Development Workshop of Institut of Plasma Physics AS CR for more than 10 years. The article describes current status of the technology and ideas which will be incorporated in next development steps. Hardware and software used on coating machines B63D, VNA600 and sputtering machine UPM810 is presented.

  15. Characterization of aluminum/aluminum nitride coatings sputter deposited using the pulsed-gas process

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Springer, R.W.; Hosford, C.D.

    1981-01-01

    A dc triode magnetron has been used to produce freestanding Al/Al + AlN lamellar foils by sputter deposition. The 5-μm-thick foils produced on both flat substrates as well as curved substrates exhibited good specularity as well as excellent mechanical properties. The pulse spacing was varied from none to 100-nm spacing. The yield strength of the material was found to obey the Hall-Petch relation sigma/sub ys/ = 230 + .07/d/sup 1/2/, where sigma/sub ys/ is in MPa. Auger electron Spectroscopy and Secondary Ion Mass Spectroscopy indicate that the large flow stress of 230 MPa must be due to grain refinement of the extended source and not an impurity effect. The result is that limitations of masking found in uniaxial flux sources for curved surfaces can be removed allowing the high quality coating of more general shapes

  16. Sputtering of nano-grains by energetic ions

    CERN Document Server

    Bringa, E M

    2002-01-01

    Sputtering from grains with a size of tens of nanometers is important in a number of astrophysical environments having a variety of plasma properties and can have applications in nano-technology. Since energy deposition by incident ions or electrons can create 'hot' regions in a small grain, thermal spike (TS) models have been applied to estimate the sputtering. The excitations produced by a fast ion are often assumed to form a 'hot' cylindrical track. In this paper we use molecular dynamics (MD) calculations to describe the energy transport and sputtering due to the creation of a 'hot' track in a grain with one quarter million atoms. We show the enhancement due to grain size and find that TS models work over a limited range of excitation densities. Discrepancies of several orders of magnitude are found when comparing our MD results for sputtering of small dust grains to those obtained by the astrophysical community using spike models.

  17. Novel high power impulse magnetron sputtering enhanced by an auxiliary electrical field

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Li, Chunwei, E-mail: lcwnefu@126.com, E-mail: xiubotian@163.com [College of Engineering and Technology, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin 150040 (China); State Key Laboratory of Advanced Welding and Joining, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150001 (China); Tian, Xiubo, E-mail: lcwnefu@126.com, E-mail: xiubotian@163.com [State Key Laboratory of Advanced Welding and Joining, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150001 (China)

    2016-08-15

    The high power impulse magnetron sputtering (HIPIMS) technique is a novel highly ionized physical vapor deposition method with a high application potential. However, the electron utilization efficiency during sputtering is rather low and the metal particle ionization rate needs to be considerably improved to allow for a large-scale industrial application. Therefore, we enhanced the HIPIMS technique by simultaneously applying an electric field (EF-HIPIMS). The effect of the electric field on the discharge process was studied using a current sensor and an optical emission spectrometer. Furthermore, the spatial distribution of the electric potential and electric field during the EF-HIPIMS process was simulated using the ANSYS software. The results indicate that a higher electron utilization efficiency and a higher particle ionization rate could be achieved. The auxiliary anode obviously changed the distribution of the electric potential and the electric field in the discharge region, which increased the plasma density and enhanced the degree of ionization of the vanadium and argon gas. Vanadium films were deposited to further compare both techniques, and the morphology of the prepared films was investigated by scanning electron microscopy. The films showed a smaller crystal grain size and a denser growth structure when the electric field was applied during the discharge process.

  18. FY1995 study to create the high density magnetic recording devices by using an ultra clean sputtering process; 1995 nendo choseijo sputter process ni yoru chokomitsudo jiki kiroku device no sosei

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    1997-03-01

    It is important to control microstructure of thin film magnetic devices such as recording heads and media, in order to induce excellent magnetic properties. Since the impurities in the sputtering atmosphere is easily thought to affect strongly on the initial film growth, we will develop the highly purified sputtering atmosphere to establish a fabrication technology of ultra thin metallic films with desirable microstructure. A specialized multi-sputtering system which has extremely clean atmosphere (impurity level: 1/10000 compared to conventional systems) were realized by (a) decreasing out-gassing rate from vacuum chamber, pumping system, cathode, robot, etc. and (b) using ultra-clean processing gas. The base pressure was 8 x 10{sup -12} Torr (XHV) and the build-up rate was less than 1 x 10{sup -8} Torrl/sec. From the correlation between the microstructure and magnetic properties of a part of spin-valve GMR films, the guiding principle for the microstructural design were clarified to induce the exchange coupling effectively at the ferro/antiferromagnetic interface and to enhance the GMR effect at the magnetic/non-magnetic interface. The mechanism of' Cr segregation on the grain boundaries was clarified, in thin film media deposited under ultra clean sputtering process. The material specification of the magnetic ultra thin film media for high density recording with low media noise were designed from view of the thermal agitation. (NEDO)

  19. X-ray diffraction analysis of thermally-induced stress relaxation in ZnO films deposited by magnetron sputtering on (100) Si substrates

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Conchon, F., E-mail: florineconchon@gmail.co [Laboratoire de Physique des Materiaux (PHYMAT) UMR 6630, Universite de Poitiers, 86962 Futuroscope-Chasseneuil (France); Renault, P.O.; Goudeau, P.; Le Bourhis, E. [Laboratoire de Physique des Materiaux (PHYMAT) UMR 6630, Universite de Poitiers, 86962 Futuroscope-Chasseneuil (France); Sondergard, E.; Barthel, E.; Grachev, S. [Laboratoire de Surface du Verre et Interfaces (SVI), UMR 125, 93303 Aubervilliers (France); Gouardes, E.; Rondeau, V.; Gy, R. [Laboratoire de Recherche de Saint-Gobain (SGR), 93303 Aubervilliers (France); Lazzari, R.; Jupille, J. [Institut des Nanosciences de Paris (INSP), UMR 7588, 75015 Paris (France); Brun, N. [Laboratoire de Physique des Solides (LPS), UMR 8502, 91405 Orsay (France)

    2010-07-01

    Residual stresses in sputtered ZnO films on Si are determined and discussed. By means of X-ray diffraction, we show that as-deposited ZnO films are highly compressively stressed. Moreover, a transition of stress is observed as a function of the post-deposition annealing temperature. After an 800 {sup o}C annealing, ZnO films are tensily stressed while ZnO films encapsulated by Si{sub 3}N{sub 4} are stress-free. With the aid of in-situ X-ray diffraction under ambient and argon atmosphere, we argue that this thermally activated stress relaxation may be attributed to a variation of the stoichiometry of the ZnO films.

  20. Effects of various deposition times and RF powers on CdTe thin film growth using magnetron sputtering

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ghorannevis, Z.; Akbarnejad, E.; Ghoranneviss, M.

    2016-09-01

    Cadmium telluride (CdTe) is a p-type II-VI compound semiconductor, which is an active component for producing photovoltaic solar cells in the form of thin films, due to its desirable physical properties. In this study, CdTe film was deposited using the radio frequency (RF) magnetron sputtering system onto a glass substrate. To improve the properties of the CdTe film, effects of two experimental parameters of deposition time and RF power were investigated on the physical properties of the CdTe films. X-ray Diffraction (XRD), atomic force microscopy (AFM) and spectrophotometer were used to study the structural, morphological and optical properties of the CdTe samples grown at different experimental conditions, respectively. Our results suggest that film properties strongly depend on the experimental parameters and by optimizing these parameters, it is possible to tune the desired structural, morphological and optical properties. From XRD data, it is found that increasing the deposition time and RF power leads to increasing the crystallinity as well as the crystal sizes of the grown film, and all the films represent zinc blende cubic structure. Roughness values given from AFM images suggest increasing the roughness of the CdTe films by increasing the RF power and deposition times. Finally, optical investigations reveal increasing the film band gaps by increasing the RF power and the deposition time.