Sputtering is a form of thin film deposition that occurs in a vacuum system. It utilizes an instrument called a magnetron sputtering source, which uses the glow discharge process and deposits the film on a substrate (sample). After reducing the pressure in a vacuum chamber to as low as 10-7 Torr, an inert gas (usually Argon) is admitted while continuously pumping to a steady state pressure of 10-3 Torr. A high potential is placed on the sputerring source which strikes a plasma though the inert gas to ground. Inert gas molecules are then ionized and accelerate toward the sputtering source. The source is fitted with a material (target) that the user wants to use as the deposition material. When the gas molecule strikes the target attached to the source, one or more molecules of target material are dislodged and travel at low energy by line of sight through the chamber. The target material strikes and adheres to the substrate. For more information follow the link below: http://www.lesker.com/newweb/Deposition_Sources/TechNotes_Sputtering.cfm#WhatIsSputtering
Category: Systems
Sub-Category: None
Related Topics: Deposition Techniques, Sputtering, Deposition Rate, Uniformity, Adhesion
