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Publications in Scientific Journals:

P. Lackner, J. Choi, U. Diebold, M. Schmid:
"Construction and evaluation of an ultrahigh-vacuum-compatible sputter deposition source";
Review of Scientific Instruments, 88, paper no. 103904 (2017), 1 - 6.



English abstract:
A sputter deposition source for the use in ultrahigh vacuum (UHV) is described, and some properties
of the source are analyzed. The operating principle is based on the design developed by Mayr et al.
[Rev. Sci. Instrum. 84, 094103 (2013)], where electrons emitted from a filament ionize argon gas and
the Ar+ ions are accelerated to the target. In contrast to the original design, two grids are used to direct
a large fraction of the Ar+ ions to the target, and the source has a housing cooled by liquid nitrogen
to reduce contaminations. The source has been used for the deposition of zirconium, a material that is
difficult to evaporate in standard UHV evaporators. At an Ar pressure of 9 10􀀀6 mbar in the UHV
chamber and moderate emission current, a highly reproducible deposition rate of 1 ML in 250 s was
achieved at the substrate (at a distance of 50 mm from the target). Higher deposition rates are easily
possible. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy shows a high purity of the deposited films. Depending
on the grid voltages, the substrate gets mildly sputtered by Ar+ ions; in addition, the substrate is
also reached by electrons from the negatively biased sputter target.

Created from the Publication Database of the Vienna University of Technology.