Sputtering Deposition is a type of physical vapor deposition (PVD) widely used to deposit thin films on substrates. The technique is based on ion bombardment of a source material (target), resulting in a vapor due to a purely physical process, which is then deposited on to a substrate. Sputtering deposition can be operated in either DC or RF mode. While the former is for metal only, the latter is suitable for both conductive and non-conductive materials. There is a wide range of sputtering tools available in IEN cleanroom. In general, CVC DC sputter can process six 4” or 6” wafers, Denton Discovery RF/DC sputter one 6” or three 4” wafers, and Unifilm DC sputter one 4” or 6” wafer at a time. Hummer 5 or XP is for SEM sample over-coating. AJA Nitride Sputterer can run reactive sputtering, and Chalcogenide Materials Sputterer is for special materials, GeSb and GST. The following tables list the film availability for each tool.

Sputtering Tools for Various Metal/Dielectric Deposition Processes