RFMS

The radio-frequency (rf) sputtering system is employed for thin film deposition. It consists of a vacuum chamber, a sputter source, a rotating substrate holder and a pumping system. A reflection high energy electron diffraction (RHEED) gun is also installed for in-situ monitoring of crystal growth. A 4 inches target (Thin Film Consulting) is powered by an rf system (Advanced Energy RFX600) through an impedance matching network (Advanced Energy ATX600) which adjusts its impedance to maintain minimum reflected power. The high vacuum is established by a turbo molecular pump (Pfeiffer TC 400).

Both reactive and non-reactive forms of sputtering have been employed to deposit thin film. In non-reactive sputtering, an inert gas (Ar) of high purity is used as a sputtering gas. Thin films of a given material M are deposited from a target consisting of this material. In reactive sputtering deposition techniques, the situation is reversed, i.e. chemical interactions between the deposition material and the gaseous environment are desired. Various kinds of thin films including oxides, nitrides and carbides are deposited.