Download Free Rf Sputtering System Development And Aluminum Deposition Characterization Book in PDF and EPUB Free Download. You can read online Rf Sputtering System Development And Aluminum Deposition Characterization and write the review.

A general rule of thumb for new semiconductor fabrication facilities (fabs) is that revenues from the first year of production must match the capital cost of building the fab itself. With modem fabs routinely exceeding $1 billion to build, this rule serves as a significant barrier to entry for groups seeking to commercialize new semiconductor devices aimed at smaller market segments which require a dedicated process. To address this gap in the industry, we are developing a I" Fab line of dedicated tools which processes small 1-2" wafers and feature the same functionality as large-scale commercial micro/nano fabrication tools, but with a significant reduction in cost and footprint. To enable the envisioned 1" Fab a reality, this thesis describes the design, development and testing of a sputtering physical vapor deposition tool, a critical tool in the 1" Fab line of tools. The tool is designed to be compatible with the 1" Fab's four-module, modular tool infrastructure, and also to allow for sharing of its peripheral equipment with other components of the 1" Fab. The modularity feature allows for multiple tools be created using an interchangeable tool platform while the shared backend equipment feature allows for a sizable cost-saving benefit, as the cost of peripheral equipment for any given tool is up to 70% of the tool's total cost. Our developed sputtering tool features the successful implementation of these two design components with a final build cost of around $25k - roughly one-seventh of the cost of a commercial tool. The sputtering tool's performance was fully characterized for both reactive and nonreactive sputtering processes. The tool's non-reactive metal depositions were examined in detail using a design of experiment response surface model. Deposition rates of up to 5.5 A/s were observed while maintaining a uniformity of ~3% across the wafer. Utilizing a direct sputter technique, this represents a deposition rate that is 4x faster than state of the practice tools while also attaining the same level of uniformity. Alongside the development of metal depositions processes, the reactive sputtering capabilities of the tool were also demonstrated through successful process development for the deposition of Aluminum Nitride (AlN). Three unique operation regions, for AlN reactive sputtering were discovered with the highest quality AlN depositions observed in transition region. Stable and repeatable depositions were achieved via the development of two control methods - voltage control and flow control. Using this optimized process, highly c-axis aligned films with columnar growth structures were observed indicating the production of high quality AlN films. This successfully developed tool alongside its optimized processes is well suited for integration into the 1" Fab, further enabling the realization of our envisioned low-cost micro/nano fabrication platform.
The second, updated edition of this essential reference book provides a wealth of detail on a wide range of electronic and photonic materials, starting from fundamentals and building up to advanced topics and applications. Its extensive coverage, with clear illustrations and applications, carefully selected chapter sequencing and logical flow, makes it very different from other electronic materials handbooks. It has been written by professionals in the field and instructors who teach the subject at a university or in corporate laboratories. The Springer Handbook of Electronic and Photonic Materials, second edition, includes practical applications used as examples, details of experimental techniques, useful tables that summarize equations, and, most importantly, properties of various materials, as well as an extensive glossary. Along with significant updates to the content and the references, the second edition includes a number of new chapters such as those covering novel materials and selected applications. This handbook is a valuable resource for graduate students, researchers and practicing professionals working in the area of electronic, optoelectronic and photonic materials.
This book covers all aspects of physical vapor deposition (PVD) process technology from the characterizing and preparing the substrate material, through deposition processing and film characterization, to post-deposition processing. The emphasis of the book is on the aspects of the process flow that are critical to economical deposition of films that can meet the required performance specifications. The book covers subjects seldom treated in the literature: substrate characterization, adhesion, cleaning and the processing. The book also covers the widely discussed subjects of vacuum technology and the fundamentals of individual deposition processes. However, the author uniquely relates these topics to the practical issues that arise in PVD processing, such as contamination control and film growth effects, which are also rarely discussed in the literature. In bringing these subjects together in one book, the reader can understand the interrelationship between various aspects of the film deposition processing and the resulting film properties. The author draws upon his long experience with developing PVD processes and troubleshooting the processes in the manufacturing environment, to provide useful hints for not only avoiding problems, but also for solving problems when they arise. He uses actual experiences, called ""war stories"", to emphasize certain points. Special formatting of the text allows a reader who is already knowledgeable in the subject to scan through a section and find discussions that are of particular interest. The author has tried to make the subject index as useful as possible so that the reader can rapidly go to sections of particular interest. Extensive references allow the reader to pursue subjects in greater detail if desired. The book is intended to be both an introduction for those who are new to the field and a valuable resource to those already in the field. The discussion of transferring technology between R&D and manufacturing provided in Appendix 1, will be of special interest to the manager or engineer responsible for moving a PVD product and process from R&D into production. Appendix 2 has an extensive listing of periodical publications and professional societies that relate to PVD processing. The extensive Glossary of Terms and Acronyms provided in Appendix 3 will be of particular use to students and to those not fully conversant with the terminology of PVD processing or with the English language.
The state-of-the-art tools for machining metals are primarily based on a metal-ceramic composite (WC-Co) coated with different combinations of carbide, nitride, and oxide coatings. Combinations of these coating materials are optimized to withstand specific wear conditions. Oxide coatings, mainly α-Al2O3, are especially desired because of their high hot-hardness, chemical inertness with respect to the workpiece, and their low friction. The search for possible alloy elements, which may facilitate the deposition of such oxides by means of physical vapor deposition (PVD) techniques, has been the goal of this thesis. The sought alloy should form thermodynamically stable or metastable compounds, compatible with the temperature of use in metal cutting application. This thesis deals with process development and coating characterization of such new oxide alloy thin films, focusing on the Al-V-O, Al-Cr-Si-O, and Cr-Zr-O systems. Alloying aluminum oxide with iso-valent vanadium is a candidate for forming the desired alloys. Therefore, coatings of (Al1-xVx)2O3, with x ranging from 0 to 1, were deposited with reactive sputter deposition. X-ray diffraction showed three different crystal structures depending on V-metal fraction in the coating: α-V2O3 rhombohedral structure for 100 at.% V, a defect spinel structure for the intermediate region, (63 - 42 at.% V), and a gamma-alumina-like solid solution at lower V-content, (18 and 7 at.%), were observed, the later was shifted to larger d-spacing compared to the pure γ-Al2O3 sample obtained if deposited with only Al-target. Annealing the Al-rich coatings in air resulted in formation of V2O5 crystals on the surface of the coating after annealing to 500 °C for 42 at.% V and 700 °C for 18 at.% V metal fraction respectively. The highest thermal stability was shown for pure γ-Al2O3-coating which transformed to α-Al2O3 after annealing to 1100° C. Highest hardness was observed for the Al-rich oxides, ~24 GPa. The hardness then decreases with increasing V-content, larger than 7 at.% V metal fraction. Doping the Al2O3 coating with 7 at.% V resulted in a significant surface smoothening compared to the binary oxide. The measured hardness after annealing in air decreased in conjunction with the onset of further oxidation of the coatings. This work increases the understanding of this complicated material system with respect to possible phases formed with pulsed DC magnetron sputtering deposition as well as their response to annealing in air. The inherent difficulties of depositing insulating oxide films with PVD, requiring a closed electrical circuit, makes the investigation of process stability an important part of this research. In this context, I investigated the influence of adding small amount of Si in Al-Cr cathode on the coating properties in a pulsed DC industrial cathodic arc system and the plasma characteristics, process parameters, and coating properties in a lab DC cathodic arc system. Si was chosen here due to a previous study showing improved erosion behavior of Al-Cr-Si over pure Al-Cr cathode without Si incorporation in the coating. The effect of Si in the Al-Cr cathode in the industrial cathodic arc system showed slight improvements on the cathode erosion but Si was found in all coatings where Si was added in the cathode. The Si addition promoted the formation of the B1-like metastable cubic oxide phase and the incorporation led to reduced or equal hardness values compared to the corresponding Si-free processes. The DC-arc plasma study on the same material system showed only small improvements in the cathode erosion and process stability (lower pressure and cathode voltage) when introducing 5 at.% Si in the Al70Cr30-cathode. The presence of volatile SiO species could be confirmed through plasma analysis, but the loss of Si through these species was negligible, since the coating composition matched the cathode composition also under these conditions. The positive effect of added Si on the process stability at the cathode surface, should be weighed against Si incorporation in the coating. This incorporation seems to lead to a reduction in mechanical properties in the as-deposited coatings and promote the formation of a B1-like cubic metastable oxide structure for the (Al,Cr)2O3 oxide. This formation may or may not be beneficial for the final application since literature indicates a slight stabilization of the metastable phase upon Si-incorporation, contrary to the effect of Cr, which stabilizes the α-phase. The thermal stability of alloys for metal cutting application is crucial for their use. Previous studies on another alloy system, Cr-Zr-O, had shown solid solution, for Cr-rich compositions in that material system, in the sought corundum structure. The thermal stability of α-Cr0.28Zr0.10O0.61 coating deposited by reactive radio frequency (RF)-magnetron sputtering at 500 °C was therefore investigated here after annealing in vacuum up to 870 °C. The annealed samples showed transformation of α-(Cr,Zr)2O3 and amorphous ZrOx-rich areas into tetragonal ZrO2 and bcc-Cr. The instability of the α-(Cr,Zr)2O3 is surprising and possibly related to the annealing being done under vacuum, facilitating the loss of oxygen. Further in situ synchrotron XRD annealing studies on the α-Cr0.28Zr0.10O0.61 coating in air and in vacuum showed increased stability for the air annealed sample up to at least 975 °C, accompanied with a slight increase in ex-situ measured nanohardness. The onset temperature for formation of tetragonal ZrO2 was similar to that for isothermally vacuum annealing. The synchrotron-vacuum annealed coating again decomposed into bcc-Cr and t-ZrO2, with an addition of monoclinic–ZrO2 due to grain growth. The stabilization of the room temperature metastable tetragonal ZrO2 phase, due to surface energy effects present with small grains sizes, may prove to be useful for metal cutting applications. The observed phase segregation of α-(Cr,Zr)2O3 and formation of tetragonal ZrO2 with corresponding increase in hardness for this pseudobinary oxide system also opens up design routes for pseudobinary oxides with tunable microstructural and mechanical properties.
This 3e, edited by Peter M. Martin, PNNL 2005 Inventor of the Year, is an extensive update of the many improvements in deposition technologies, mechanisms, and applications. This long-awaited revision includes updated and new chapters on atomic layer deposition, cathodic arc deposition, sculpted thin films, polymer thin films and emerging technologies. Extensive material was added throughout the book, especially in the areas concerned with plasma-assisted vapor deposition processes and metallurgical coating applications.
This thoroughly updated new edition includes an entirely new team of contributing authors with backgrounds specializing in the various new applications of sputtering technology. It forms a bridge between fundamental theory and practical application, giving an insight into innovative new materials, devices and systems. Organized into three parts for ease of use, this Handbook introduces the fundamentals of thin films and sputtering deposition, explores the theory and practices of this field, and also covers new technology such as nano-functional materials and MEMS. Wide varieties of functional thin film materials and processing are described, and experimental data is provided with detailed examples and theoretical descriptions. A strong applications focus, covering current and emerging technologies, including nano-materials and MEMS (microelectrolmechanical systems) for energy, environments, communications, and/or bio-medical field. New chapters on computer simulation of sputtering and MEMS completes the update and insures that the new edition includes the most current and forward-looking coverage available All applications discussed are supported by theoretical discussions, offering readers both the "how" and the "why" of each technique 40% revision: the new edition includes an entirely new team of contributing authors with backgrounds specializing in the various new applications that are covered in the book and providing the most up-to-date coverage available anywhere
An up-to-date collection of tutorial papers on the latest advances in the deposition and growth of thin films for micro and nano technologies. The emphasis is on fundamental aspects, principles and applications of deposition techniques used for the fabrication of micro and nano devices. The deposition of thin films is described, emphasising the gas phase and surface chemistry and its effects on the growth rates and properties of films. Gas-phase phenomena, surface chemistry, growth mechanisms and the modelling of deposition processes are thoroughly described and discussed to provide a clear understanding of the growth of thin films and microstructures via thermally activated, laser induced, photon assisted, ion beam assisted, and plasma enhanced vapour deposition processes. A handbook for engineers and scientists and an introduction for students of microelectronics.