We employ two sputtering systems manufactured by AJA International, Inc. Both systems achieve a base pressure of about 10-8 mTorr in the ultra high vacuum regime. Therefor, clean and controlled sputtering even of heavily oxidizing materials is possible. Each machine is equipped with a load lock to facilitate a quick exchange of samples without venting the respective entire main chamber.
The ATC Orion 5 UHV is a very versatile system with many different target materials in stock and the possibility of co-sputtering. Aquiring new target materials is comparatively inexpensive due to the small target size of 2".
The key features are:
- target size: 2"
- 3 RF and 2 DC guns
- process gases: Ar, N2 and O2
- heater up to 850 °C
- co-sputtering
- uniformity better than 2.5% over 4" diameter samples
The ATC-2200 is a large machine used only in solar cell processing and hence is restricted in the available target materials to prevent contamination. However, the target size of 4" guaranties a uniformity better 2% on large 6" substrates.
The key features are:
- target size: 4"
- 4 RF guns and 1 pulsed DC
- process gases: Ar, N2 and O2
- heater up to 450 °C
- uniformity better than 2% over 6” diameter wafers
Reference: AJA International, ATC & ATC Orion Series Sputtering Systems - Installation & Operation Manual, 2005.