Week 12 : Physical Vapor Deposition Techniques (Pulsed laser Deposition & Sputter Deposition)

Types of Physical Vapor Deposition Techniques

Some important Physical Vapor Deposition Techniques are as follows

  1. Pulsed Laser Deposition (PLD)
  2. Electron Beam Physical Papor Deposition (EBPVD
  3. Molecular Beam Epitaxy (MBE)
  4. Sputter Deposition or Sputtering

Pulsed laser deposition (PLD) is a thin film deposition (specifically a physical vapour deposition) technique where a high power pulsed laser beam is focused inside a vacuum chamber to strike a target of the desired composition. Material is then vapourised from the target and deposited as a thin film on a substrate, such as a silicon wafer facing the target. This process can occur in ultra high vacuum (UHV) or in the presence of a background gas, such as oxygen which is commonly used when depositing oxides to fully oxygenate the deposited films.

Sputter Deposition: If a high negative potential difference (~1000V) is applied between the target and the substrate in a rarefied Argon environment, electrons released from the target collide with Argon atoms and ionise them, giving them a positive charge. These are then accelerated towards the target and strike it at high energy, releasing target material called "Sputtering". This sputtered material the travel towards substrate and deposit a thin layer of sputtered material there. This process is called sputter depostion. This process has very high deposition rates and there are different types of sputtering techniques e.g, DC or AC diode sputtering and DC or AC magnetron sputtering. Each of these techniques have their own advantages & disadvantages.

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