Paper EW-WeL3
Synchronous Motion, Close Proximity Sputtering System

Wednesday, October 20, 2010, 12:40 pm, Room Southwest Exhibit Hall

Conventional sputtering systems have a well defined relationship between the size of the substrate being coated, sputtering gun target size, and the throw distance that separates the substrate from the sputtering gun. Substrate size and the required thin film uniformity are the key factors from which the sputtering gun size and the throw distance are then derived. We report on a sputtering system developed at the Kurt Lesker Company that breaks these geometric dependencies while at the same time delivering thin film uniformity of +/-1% or better and sputtering rates that are 5 to 10 times greater than most standard sputtering systems which follow conventional codependent geometries. This rate improvement can be achieved with metal or insulating targets using RF, DC, or pulsed DC power. This sputtering system works by placing the sputtering gun very close to the substrate (<1”) and then synchronizing the travel of the sputtering gun across the face of a rotating substrate, controlling the rotational speed of the substrate, and controlling the power that the sputtering gun is operating at as the sputtering gun deposits its target materials. The advantages of this sputtering system, the economy of scale, and the versatility will be explained.