I have a target made with primarily Fe(Iron). I am trying to sputter it anyways. DC,Diode,Rf(which I don't think will work but still I am trying). One problem is that the target is quite thick(about 0.25inches) so we are trying to make it thinner but is there anything else to try except changing to high power magnetron gun? I would like to hear and read about your experiences with sputtering magnetic materials.
you don't need a high power magnetron gun.
If you are developing thin films for some research, then you can use simply foil targets of magnetic materials. Foils are easily available.
Just buy high purity Fe or Nickel foils of about 0.5 to 1mm thick, which will be quite inexpensive. Cut them into circular shape of the required diameter, and use them as a target.
For a 4 inch circular foil of nickel, or iron, I did not apply more than 100 to 150 watts, and could easily obtain some good film depositon, after the target gets cleaned up.
K. Sreenivas
Thank you Dr.K. Sreenivas.My target is 2 inch diameter. Do you think I will higher power for this size to get a deposition rate?As far as I know it does depend on the size of the target and thanks to Dr.Breuer too. I will check out those papers.
What is the thickness of your target, is it 1 mm or even more, what is the magnet arrangement in the magnetron?
The best way for sputtering magnetic material and others is PLD (pulsed laser deposition).
Your honor, Bhuiyan. I'm glad I received your message. First of all, I have to state this. Removing atoms from the iron target with the RF sputtering technique is a very difficult process. it would be more accurate to choose another destination instead. but you may be advised that you choose a fine powdered iron compacted in metal, choosing higher sputter power.
Dera Bhuiyan, share the magnetron so that I can share my views, because if more thick sample you must need high power magnet, but the problem can be resolved you can make the target thin and thinner.
Dear Bhuiyan,
Magnetic targets should be sputtered with a magnetron having first of all a very strong magnet array (NdFeB or Co4Sm magnets). In case of a planar magnetron, work with a magnetron having pole pieces sticking out NEXT to the target itself. You will have only a little contamination in the thin film from those pole pieces. DC sputtering is fine. Measure the magnet stray field parallel to the target surface about 1 mm above the target surface before you start any depositions (use a hand held probe for this). You will need a few 100 Gauss in order to keep a stable plasma. As Fe will hardly arc, it might be a good idea to start the deposition process with higher pressure (e.g. around 2.E-02 mbar and once a stable plasma is achieved, to lower the deposition pressure (to some 5E-03 mbar). But in any case 1/4 inch thickness for pure Fe is a lot (this is 6 mm). You might need to make the target thinner to below 5 mm (e.g. 4 mm) in order to get a decent stray field.
Paul
Dr. Paul LIppens has very nicely stated the basic requirements for sputtering magnetic materials by sputtering. I only wish to add that in small research labs, with 2 to 3 inch dia magnetron electrodes, it will be always comfortatble to use foil targets ( anywhere from 0.5 to 2mm) thick, and high purity foils of common magnetic materials are easily available (Fe and Ni), and you can easily shape them into a circular shape and use them as targets.
I fully agree, Dr. Sreenivas. Cooling is sometimes a problem though: keep power density low.
Pulsed Laser Deposition and Reactiv Pulsed Laser Deposition are the best way to deposit and synthesized 2D structures and heterostructures with demanded properties for different applications.
I have the same thing Paul Lippens just said but it is for 2inch gun and my target is mainly iron and quite thick. Now we are sending it to KJLC to get it thinned. Thanks for all the responses
Follow this link may be helpful
https://patents.google.com/patent/US4324631A/en
Greeting
this link is useful
iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1757-899X/113/1/012009/pdf
regards
Hi Bhuiyan Anwar, we have worked a little with the University of Leicester, who were sputtering iron. Using a thin foil target as many have suggested seemed to be successful. However they found that putting a sheet of graphite film behind the target greatly assisted (chiefly increasing the thermal contact) but it also acted as a preventative measure should the target get fully eroded. One company also recommended using a thick target that was broken up into many small square pillars - a thick target cross-hatched with saw cuts to help the penetration of the magnetic field, but to retain a reasonable thickness of target so there was less worry about eroding through it. We have also had some success with magnetic targets, running the magnetron with thick target at higher pressure, so the plasma is less reliant on the magnetic field to sustain it.
Finally I am running RF sputtering with my soft magnetic alloy which is giving a very thin film. Now I am looking for ways to increase the deposition rate.
We deposite magnetic materials like Fe, Co, Ni and rare earths using a typical magnetron system. You must be careful with the magnetic field created by the magnet of the magnetron. It must be strong enough to overcome the magnetization of the magnetic target. In our case, the magnet of the magnetron is the same as the used for other kind of targets. What it changes is the distance of the magnet to the target: it is closer to increase the density of magnetic field at the target. Otherwise, the plasma that produces the sputtering does not form
As per my idea, the target to be sputtered can be make thinner to deposit magnetic materials. Or, modification can be done to magnetic arrangement in the magnetron, if any, to make the flux out of it more.
We sputter magnetic materials like Fe and Co by magnetron sputtering. The gun is a little bit modified, the space that separates the permanent NdFeB magnet (in the out of vacuum side) from Fe (in vacuum) is thinner than regular guns. The target should not be too thick, otherwise the strength of the stray field is too weak to create a dense plasma. The thickness of our targets is 2 mm.
Magnetic materials, can be deposited from a standard ferromagnetic target (6mm thick) using the Plasma Quest Limited (PQL) HiTUS technology. Here, the plasma is generated remotely and directed towards the target. This requires no local magnets behind the target, and hence no racetrack. Deposition rates are on the order of 30nm/min to 50nm/min from a 4 inch target. www.plasmaquest.co.uk
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