A NEW AND NOVEL TECHNIQUE FOR THE SPUTTER DEPOSITION OF HIGHTEMPERATURE SUPERCONDUCTING THIN FILMS AND COATINGS

A UNIQUE PROCEDURE HAS BEEN DEVELOPED FOR THE REACTIVE SPUTTER DEPOSITION OF THIN FILMS. THE APPROACH HAS PROVED SUPERIOR TO THAT OF MAGNETRONS, GIVING BETTER PROCESS CONTROL AND FILM QUALITY, AND THE POSSIBILITY FOR HIGHER DEPOSITION RATE. A NOVEL APPROACH FOR THE DEPOSITION OF HIGH TEMPERATURE SUPERCONDUCTING (HTS) THIN FILMS INVOLVES PRODUCING ONE OR MULTIPLE PLASMA BEAMS AND TRANSPORTING THE PLASMA ALONG A WEAK GUIDE MAGNETIC FIELD TO SEPARATE TARGETSOF Y, BA AND CU LOCATED AT A DISTANCE UP TO 1 M FROM THE PLASMA SOURCE. THE CURRENT TO THE TARGET IS CONTROLLED BY ADJUSTING THE PLASMA POWER WHILE THE SPUTTER RATE FROM EACH TARGET IS CONTROLLED INDIVIDUALLY THROUGH ADJUSTING THE TARGET VOLTAGE. THE PROCEDURE OFFERS A NUMBER OF KEY ADVANTAGES INCLUDING CONTROL OVER THE STOICHIOMETRY OF THE FILMS. THE SEPARATION OF PLASMA PRODUCTION AND SPUTTER DEPOSITION GIVES PROCESS STABILITY BY PREVENTING OXIDATION OF THE TARGETS. THIS PROJECT WILL DEMONSTRATE THIS UNIQUE PLASMA SPUTTERING ARRANGEMENT FOR PRODUCING HTS FILMS, WITH SPECIAL CONTROL OVER THE STOICHIOMETRY OF THE FILMS AND THE RATE OF FILM PRODUCTION. SUPERCONDUCTING THIN FILMS WILL BE DEPOSITED ON STRONTIUM TITANATE SUBSTRATES AND THEIR SUPERCONDUCTING PROPERTIES WILL BE MEASURED.