ABSTRACT
Thin-film deposition techniques can be broadly categorized into physical vapor deposition (PVD) and chemical vapor deposition. PVD employs energy sources such as ions, heat, or laser pulses to atomize a source material. Sputter deposition uses ions, thermal evaporation uses heat, and pulsed laser deposition uses laser pulses. Argon ions are relatively heavy and have reasonably high sputter yields for commonly used deposition materials. Sputter yield is defined as the number of ejected atoms for each incident ion. Details of the plasma configurations and vacuum systems can be found elsewhere, but the essential elements of a sputter deposition system can be summarized as the cathode, anode, and the process gas in a vacuum chamber. The source material for the deposition, known as the target material, is mechanically clamped to the cathode electrode. Deposition of insulating materials requires excitation using an alternating current source.
