If your chamber has a geometry in which the substrate holder stays horizontal the whole time, using a pocket carrier without adhesives or clampsis probably the best, least contaminative version.

If you need to hang it up vertically, you will either require clamping which shadows parts of your chips or you will need to bond it. Whether the adhesive will affect your process negatively, will have to be shown experimentally. Check if there is wetting experimental data available.

Yes

Instead of square pieces, try to use circular pieces of your elemental material.

If your target is in a vertical position, then you can make circular holes into it, and prepare discs of your elements of the same diameters as the holes, and then press fit them into the holes made in the target.

In case your target is fixed in a horizontal position, then just place the discs of your elemental chips physically on the target. Avoid glue or any other sticking matrial it will contaminate the whole target.

Jürgen Weippert Thank you for your answer!!

K. Sreenivas Thank you for your answer!

In my case, target is fixed in a horizontal and I wonder what it means to "physically" place the chips on target.

Does that mean it's ok to just put it on without any additional gluing or drilling process?

Hae-Ju Jo Not using gluing or drilling, but instead a loose pocket carrier, was exactly my first recommendation.

Jürgen Weippert I'm sorry for missing the information of pocket carrier.

Actually, this is the first time I've heard of "pocket carrier".

Could you explain it more?

Nothing fancy, it's just a sample holder with a (lasercut or milled) pit in the shape of your sample in it. That pit is called a pocket.

The suggested solutions will not enable using high power loads, but all will depend on the difference in thermal expansion coefficient for the two materials (target and inserts)...

The chips should be flat, and you can simply place them on the target.

you can use low power upto 100 W RF power (which I used in my case) very sucessfully to make PZT multielement metal target.

I took a Zinc target, and placed on it small discs of Zn-Mg alloy, (1 cm dia., and 2 mm thickness) to make Mg doped Zinc Oxide films, and were were quite successful.

What metal elemental chips are you planning, and on which target surface ?

Hopefully you should not have mechanical vibrations in your chamber, otherwise the chips can move slowly or slowly shift to the edge and can touch the target shielding ring and touch the ground which will then electrically shorts your metal target with ground You should prevent such movement.

K. Sreenivas Thank you for sharing your case.

In my case, I will also use the Zn target and Mg chips(5x5mm 1t).

I understand how to place the chips on the target.

Target and chips are flat but I have to be careful of vibrations in the chamber.

Again, thank you for your advice.

Long ago for making ZnO films doped with Mg, we used a Zn target, and placed Zn-Mg alloy which was shaped into small discs. This paper was published, and if you need I can send the reference of this paper.

Mg chips which I had purchased were not flat, very irregular and flaky. Moreover it was considered dangerous to use Mg element chips directly as they tend to catch fire.

Rana Hamza Shakil

K. Sreenivas I would like to refer your paper. If you don't mind, could you send me the paper??

I have the reference of the paper, and don't possess a soft copy.

You may find the paper in your library system.

Title: Structural and optical properties of magnetron sputtered MgxZn1− xO thin films

Authors: Sanjeev Kumar, Vinay Gupte, K Sreenivas

Publication date; 2006/3/13

Journal: Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter

Volume18, Issue13, Pages 3343.

K. Sreenivas Thank you for sharing!!