Sputter Deposition System

AJA ATC Orion-8 Sputter Deposition System

Description:
Deposit thin layers of material over a substrate using DC or RF Bias

Features:

7 magnetron sputtering sources
5 independent power generators (4x DC 1x RF)
Vacuum load lock for fast sample load and extraction
Reactive or inert gas lines to substrate
Ultra High Vacuum-capable process chamber

UC Rate: $32/hour

External (Non-UC) Rate: $42/hour

Summary of Equipment

*Main Chamber with 7 Sources opened. Zr, Al, Y, TiN, Ni, Cr, Ti* *mounted*

The Orion-8 UHV System is well-suited for thin-film physical vapor deposition. The tool can be used to deposit multi-layer systems of a vast array of compounds in a reactive or inert atmosphere. Thanks to the seven sources and five power supplies, it is possible to keep many materials in the chamber and reduce the time needed to pump down between experiments. The tool is equipped with a substrate heater and a dedicated RF source that can be used to clean the substrate prior to deposition.

Available Targets

Users may supply their own substrate and targets. Please contact us if you would like to request a target material that is commonly used in research applications.

Element	Name	%
Cu	Copper	99.999
Zr	Zirconium	GR702
Ti	Titanium	99.995
Nb	Niobium	99.95
Cr	Chromium	99.95
W	Tungsten	99.95
Ni	Nickel	99.995
Al	Aluminum	99.9995
Y	Yttrium	99.99
C	Graphite / Pyrolytic Graphite	99.999
Fe	Iron	99.95
Ta	Tantalum	99.95
Mo	Molybdenum	99.99
Al2O3	Aluminum Oxide	99.99
SiO2	Silicon Dioxide (Fused Quartz)	99.99
ITO	Indium Tin Oxide (Indium Bonded to Cu)	99.9

Many researchers are interested in Ultra-High Vacuum (UHV) Deposition. Users may request a main chamber conditioning to achieve lower than 1E-8 torr base pressure for additional charge.

Facility users have achieved reactive sputtering using Nitrogen and Oxygen.

In Research

Influence of W content on microstructure and surface morphology of hard Ni-W films fabricated by magnetron co-sputtering

The researchers co-sputtered thin films of Nickel-Tungsten which varied in composition from pure Ni to pure W. The samples were characterized using XRD, EDS, SEM, AFM, and microindentation. The researchers showed that the crystal system was FCC and the hardness of the material was a function of tungsten content. At low W concentration, hardness tended to increase with higher at. % W. This effect was diminished between 40-55 at. % W. Hardness values of the alloy for W composition between 55%-80% were observed to be double compared to the lowest range, possibly due to dominance of a solid-solution hardened BCC phase.

FIG. S1. Cross-sectional scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images of the co-sputtered Ni-W thin films with respect to their W content: (a) pure Ni, (b-e) Ni-W coating with 20, 39, 55, and 79 at.% W, respectively, and (f) pure W.

Amir R. Esmaeili, Noshin Mir, and Reza Mohammad. Influence of W content on microstructure and surface morphology of hard Ni-W films fabricated by magnetron co-sputtering. Journal of Vacuum Science & Technology A 39, 2021

Sputtered Thin-Film Solid Oxide Fuel Cells

Researchers at UC San Diego used the Orion system to produce a YSZ-based thin-film solid-oxide fuel cell. They characterized the system’s microstructure and found it exhibits fully dense electrolytes, fully dense interlayers, porous anodes, and porous cathodes. The cell performance was rated at high open-circuit voltages above 1.0V and good power density of 3.0 W/cm2 (650C) using hydrogen fuel.

Figure 1. SEM Images that Show the Microstructure of YSZ, Ni-YSZ, LSCF-YSZ and LSC-YSZ Layers Deposited by Sputtering

Nguyen Q. Minh et al. Sputtered Thin-Film Solid Oxide Fuel Cells. ECS Trans. 103 67, 2021

Fabrication of an acetone gas sensor based on Si-doped WO₃ nanorods prepared by reactive magnetron co-sputtering with OAD technique

Using an AJA sputter system, the researchers fabricated Si-doped WO₃ nanorods to test their use as gas sensors for medical devices. The material in bulk is known to exhibit a change in resistivity when exposed to small amounts of acetone in the air. The group was able to form 1.43 wt% Si-doped WO3 with their published sputtering technique. They characterized the structure using XRD and FESEM. The response of the thin-film to 100 ppm Acetone was measured and considered suitable for non-invasive detection of diabetes.

Figure 6. FE-SEM surface morphology and cross-section images of (a) pure WO₃ and (b) Si-doped WO₃ nanorods deposited onto the sensor substrate after annealing.

Waraporn Sucharitakul et al. Fabrication of an acetone gas sensor based on Si-doped WO₃ nanorods prepared by reactive magnetron co-sputtering with OAD technique. 2021 Mater. Res. Express 8 125702