Laboratory of Thin Films

Combined system for magnetron sputtering and vacuum thermal deposition of layers, model KES 500 TC

The process chamber of the system has three magnetron cathodes, 5 cm in diameter, in confocal geometry with a “sputter up” configuration. The cathodes are water-cooled, and each is fitted with a special pneumatic protective shutter for pre-sputtering processes and a special shield to avoid possible cross-contamination. The system is equipped with a DC power supply, which can be connected to two of the cathodes via a system of 2 DC switches, and one 13.56 MHz radio-frequency power supply connected directly to the third cathode. This configuration allows the deposition of both conductive and dielectric layers (such as CeO2, SiO2, Al₂O₃, etc.). The target-to-substrate distance can be adjusted from inside the chamber. The vacuum attainable in the process chamber is better than 5 x 10^-7 mbar.

The sample holder/anode in the process chamber can be loaded with samples 5 cm in diameter or with a square sample measuring 5 cm x 5 cm, and can rotate about its orthogonal axis so as to optimise the uniformity of the deposition as far as possible. At the same time, the anode can be heated to 300°C by a substrate heating system. The system has a second radio-frequency power supply connected to the sample holder.

Vacuum thermal evaporation is performed by a thermal evaporator mounted in the lower part of the chamber, with electrically powered thermal evaporation sources with a maximum current of 600 A.