There are many problem in thermal evaporating SiO material.
Have you ever experience the similar problem?
Dear Hye-Min An,
You may want to review some useful information presented below:
Silicon monoxide (SiO) is a compound composed of silicon (Si) and oxygen (O), and it is used in various thin-film applications, including optical coatings and semiconductor devices. Thermal evaporation is one of the common methods for depositing thin films of SiO. However, achieving strict thickness control with thermal evaporation can be challenging compared to other deposition techniques like sputtering or chemical vapor deposition (CVD).
Here are some factors to consider when attempting SiO thermal evaporation with thickness control:
While achieving strict thickness control with SiO thermal evaporation can be challenging, it is not impossible. Many research and industrial processes use thermal evaporation successfully for SiO deposition. However, for applications that require extremely precise and uniform thin films with strict control over thickness, other deposition techniques like sputtering or CVD may be preferred, as they offer more inherent control and uniformity in thin-film growth. The choice of deposition method depends on the specific requirements of the application and the available equipment and expertise.
Hi Hye-Min An,
Sure this is possible, - however this particular material is a little bit tricky to deal with as you already experienced.
Instead of typical melting and steady evaporating, SiO is sublimating and ejecting sprays of material. That's why you see an unstable deposition rate. To overcome this, some people are using baffled evaporation sources. You could read some technical information here https://rdmathis.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Silicon-Monoxide-Properties-Evaporation-Techniques.pdf .
Fails with rate monitor are likely mostly associated with thick and high-stress films you deposit on it. They can peel-off sometimes and then the already measured thickness becomes incorrect. This is also typical for SiO deposition.
Also please be adviced that electrical properties of the deposited SiO film depends on the actual vacuum chamber conditions and the remaining gases during the deposition. Good luck.
I do not have any experience thermally evaporating SiO but to me this sounded like the material was sublimating and interestingly I found that silicon monoxide does show appreciable sublimation at relative low temperatures at vacuum rather than melting and evaporating. When this happens the material transitions from solid to gas very quickly and also can scatter particles of the material that will damage the film/sensor, in both cases your thickness sensor will fluctuate drastically. Are you using a boat? my advice is to try with a different source, probably a tungsten filament, this will give you a more controlled deposition but you will be limited on the amount of material being deposited. You can also try with a source with chimney design.
Hi
I succeeded to evaporate SiO by ebeam and by thermal evaporation. Using ebeam, can be problematic depending on the size of the SiO chuncks....if too small, you ll have spitting of the material out of the crucible....best results were obtained with a baffled boat from RDmatthis, the rate was very uniform. good luck
You can do it by flash evaporation using a "vibrating" powder feeder as in this example:
https://shopit2.msbcemporiava.org/content?c=flash+evaporation+system&id=9
Dear Hye-Min An,
There should be no problem with SiO evaporation. I think your problem is due to improper use of the evaporation equipment. For help, consult the well-known old "Thin Film Technology Handbook", Vol.I, Ch.1, Vacuum Evaporation. Eds. L.Maissel and R.Glang, McGraw Hill Book company, 1970.
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