Thin Film and Plasma
Films can be sputtered over substrates up to 6 inches (150 mm) in diameter, from 0.005~2.000 +/- 0.001 um thick, and can be patterened with lithography or laser cut masks, e.g. for fine scale PCB traces.
Applications include optical films, diffusion barriers, embedded passive components such as
resistors,
thermistors and
thermocouples,
strain gauges,
IR detectors,
implantable electrodes,
seed/bonding surfaces for multilayer structures.
Our thin film advantages include:
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Two magnetron sputter sources, 6 kW DC and 2 kW RF, and two planar RF diodes, allowing deposition of multiple different materials without breaking vacuum. |
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A planetary drive, which rotates substrates during deposition to maintain thickness uniformity. |
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Low base pressure, less than 8.0x10-8 Torr, and a liquid nitrogen cold trap, to ensure deposition of clean films with excellent adhesion. |
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Standard targets are Ag, Al, Au, B2 alloy, Constantin, Cr, Cu, Ir, Ni, Nichrome, Si, Ti, TiW and Zr. |
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Reactive sputtering is used for deposition of Oxides and Nitrides such as IrO2, TiOx, Al2O3, TiN, TiWOx, TiWN, NiMoFeOx and Si3N4. |
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Thermal evaporation is available for R&D applications requiring deposition of specialized thermoelectric materials such as Bi, Te, Se and Sb. |
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Adhesion is enhanced through Reactive Ion Etching (RIE: O2, CF4) and RF sputter etching (Ar) to clean and activate surfaces; large-scale RIE can be performed on multiple panels up to 18" x 22" (46 cm x 56 cm) for plasma etching of bulk materials. |
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Temperature-sensitive substrates (e.g. thin polymers, ferroelectrics and piezoelectric ceramics) are processed to manage thermal effects by tailoring deposition duty cycles to the substrate and the material with custom control software developed in-house. |
When additional thickness is required, gold, nickel or copper can be plated up in our fine pitch flex circuit shop.