April 2021 Newsletter

TechCon 2021 Virtual – Society of Vacuum Coaters

We will be offering a virtual short course entitled C240 – Fundamentals of Ion Beam Sputtering May 19th.

This class will be taught by Plasma Process Group founder Brett Buchholtz and can be attended via Zoom.

The class is tailored to folks just starting out working with ion beam sources and ion beam sputter coatings.  The course is divided into 2 parts, ion beam sources and ion beam sputtering.  I will go over the basics for ion beam sources and grid assemblies.  We will also discuss neutralizers, power supplies and other facets of ion beam equipment.  The second part of the course will cover sputtering, targets, substrate motion and other considerations for depositing thin films.  Several examples of thin film deposition will be talked about.

The class will be done in front of one of our Techne deposition tools and will try to take a more “hands on” approach.  There will be slides, video and live action.

If you are interested in the TechCon 2021 Virtual more information can be found here: 2021 SVC Spring Bulletin

Signup and class information can be found here: Registration

The course outline will be:

Part 1 – Ion Beam Sources

1. Vacuum – Foundation for Ion Beam
2. Pressure – Measuring Vacuum System Health
3. Gas Supply – The Working Atmosphere
4. Plasma – The Ionized Atmosphere
5. Ion Optics – Extracting Ions from a Plasma
6. Grids – Forming the Ion Beam
7. Charge Exchange – Ions Interacting with Neutrals
8. Neutralizer – Keeping the Charge Balanced
9. Power Supply – The Ion Beam Engine
10.   Issues – Keeping the Source Operational
11.   Review

Part 2 – Ion Beam Sputtering

1. Sputtering – Moving Atoms
2. Ion Beam Sputtering (IBS) – Moving Atoms with an Ion Beam
3. Sputter Plume – Target Atoms in Motion
4. Sputter Target – Factors to Consider
5. IBS Thin Films – Capturing the Sputter Plume
6. Lab: Deposition of SiO₂
7. IBS Coating Properties – A Brief Examination
8. Ion Beam Assisted Deposition (IBAD) – Adding Another Source
9. Uniformity – A Few Techniques
10. Deposition Optimization – Rate vs. Uniformity
11. Deposition Control – Stopping the Layer
12. Lab: Quartz Crystal Experiments
13. IBS Systems – Scaling IBS and Extreme coatings
14. References

I hope to see you during this class!

-Brett