Sputtering metal is a complex process that involves several critical steps.
7 Key Steps Explained
1. Creating a High Electrical Field
A high electrical field is created around the source material or target of interest.
2. Forming a Plasma
This electrical field helps to create a plasma.
3. Introducing Inert Gas
Inert gas, such as neon, argon, or krypton, is directed into a vacuum chamber containing the target coating material and the substrate.
4. Ionizing the Gas Atoms
A power source sends an energetic wave through the gas to ionize the gas atoms, giving them a positive charge.
5. Attracting Positive Ions
The negatively charged target material attracts the positive ions.
6. Collision and Displacement
A collision occurs, in which the positive ions displace the target atoms.
7. Sputtering and Deposition
The displaced target atoms break up into a spray of particles that "sputter off" and cross the vacuum chamber. These sputtered particles land on the substrate, depositing as a thin film coating.
The rate of sputtering depends on various factors, including the current, beam energy, and physical properties of the target material.
Sputtering is a physical process where atoms in a solid-state target are released and pass into the gas phase by bombardment with energetic ions, mainly noble gas ions.
It is commonly used for sputter deposition, a high vacuum-based coating technique, and for the preparation of high-purity surfaces and analysis of surface chemical composition.
In magnetron sputtering, a controlled gas flow, usually argon, is introduced into a vacuum chamber.
An electrically charged cathode, the target surface, attracts target atoms inside the plasma.
The collisions inside the plasma cause energetic ions to dislodge molecules from the material, which then cross the vacuum chamber and coat the substrate to create a thin film.
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