High-Throughput Experimentation Physical Vapor Deposition (PVD) Chamber for Accelerated Microelectronics Materials Research and Development

Techniques for producing combinatorial materials are highly valued for their ability to produce compositional arrays that can be rapidly evaluated. A significant aspect that is still lacking in combinatorial film deposition is the ability to efficiently deposit multiple material conditions in specified isolated areas on a large silicon wafer while varying local composition and deposition conditions. Providing combinatorial magnetron sputtering control capability for both material composition and thermal processing of multiple individual test pads on a single substrate is a primary goal of this proposal. Phase I incorporates tasks for the mechanical design of a precise substrate rotation system and variable power and/or shutter control for magnetron sputtering on Si substrates. The work includes the design for localized in-situ diode laser heating to provide enhanced grain growth during the multilayer or co-deposition process. Particular attention will be paid to incremental composition changes for each pad. In Phase II, a prototype machine will be built and tested for precision control of selected pad site incremental compositions. A high probability for successful commercialization is anticipated, as PVD Products is singularly focused and committed to provide the best possible deposition instruments to the military and commercial markets.