High Purity Sputtering Targets for Use in PVD Applications from Alfa Aesar

Topics Covered

Overview
Physical Vapor Deposition
Sputter Deposition

Overview

A sputtering target is a disc of high purity material used as an atomic sputtering source for ion bombardment. Alfa Aesar offers Pure Element Sputtering Targets and Compound Sputtering Targets for a variety of thin-film, physical vapor deposition (PVD) and analytical applications.

Physical Vapor Deposition

Physical vapor deposition (PVD) is the name given to a family vacuum deposition processes. These processes deposit thin films by the condensation of a vaporized form onto a substrate such as a semiconductor wafers. The coating method itself is a purely physical process. Examples include high temperature vacuum evaporation or plasma sputter bombardment. Such processes differ from chemical vapor deposition or CVD processes which involve a chemical reaction at the substrate surface to create the coating.

Sputter Deposition

Sputter deposition is the name given to a family of PVD processes. These processes involve bombarding the target material (made of the coating material) with high energy changed ions. This causes atoms of the target to be dislodged. The “sputtered” atoms are then deposited or condensed onto the substrate. The amount of sputtered material that is deposited onto the substrate is maximized by factors such as geometry and charge.

Sputter deposition processes include:

  • DC Sputtering
  • RF Sputtering
  • Magnetron sputtering
  • Ion Assisted Sputtering
  • Reactive Sputtering

These variations on the sputtering process are so named because of the way in which the high energy charged ions are produced or the environment in which the process id carried out. While the basic process is quite simple, there are numerous processing parameters that can be used by a skilled operator to control the final properties such as thickness and microstructure of the coating.

Alfa Aesar offers sputtering targets in a variety of materials.

To request literature on high purity sputtering targets, please visit the Alfa Aesar website.

Source: Alfa Aesar

For More information on this source please visit Alfa Aesar

Date Added: Dec 28, 2009
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