Vacuum system for thin films sputtering and nanoparticles deposition

The deposition system consists of two vacuum chambers made by Mantis, which fulfil the conditions of high vacuum (HV). The first chamber enables the deposition of metal or metal oxide nanoparticles by means of the Inert Gas Condensation (IGC) method. The size of nanoparticles and its distribution are controlled by a suitable selection of process parameters, mainly with the use of a mass spectrometer placed in the processing chamber. It is possible to cover nanoparticles in situ with a thin layer of another metal or metal oxide, i.e. to develop core/shell nanoparticles. The other chamber is used for simultaneous or sequential sputtering of multicomponent thin layers and multilayers of metals and metal compounds of controlled chemical composition and thickness.

Working parameters:

• base pressure 1·10^-8 Torr
• total pressure 1·10^-2 - 1·10^-4 Torr
• controllable substrate temperature (25 – 800 °C)
• controllable sample bias (0 – 600 V) (DC)
• variable speed sample rotation  (0 – 20 rpm)
• size of the substrate: 2’’ diameter wafers
• deposition rate is monitored by a QCM
• controllable, constant  Ar, N₂, O₂ flows

Thin layers deposition:

• two DC magnetron sources and one RF magnetron source
• stabilized, constant input current (DC magnetron sources) and stabilized, constant input power (RF magnetron source)

Nanoparticles preparation:

• Nanogen Trio – three DC magnetron sources
• stabilized, constant input current (DC magnetron source)
• controllable bias in aggregation zone (0-20 V) (DC)
• aggregation zone cooled by liquid nitrogen
• controllable nanoparticle size (1-20 nm) with the use of a mass spectrometer