Research-oriented High-Vacuum Magnetron Sputtering Coater The Circular Sputter series is our company’s line of high-vacuum magnetron sputtering systems designed for both research and pilot-scale applications. These systems primarily utilize circular magnetron sputtering targets to deposit a wide range of materials, including metals, alloys, compounds, semiconductors, ceramics, dielectric composite films, and other chemically reactive coatings. They are ideal for fabricating various single-layer films, multilayer films, doped films, and alloy coatings, and can be used to coat both magnetic and non-magnetic materials.
Suitable for the R&D of advanced packaging in TGV/TSV/TMV applications, enabling deep-hole seed-layer plating with high aspect ratios (≥10:1).
Key Technical Features of the Equipment
Adhering to the philosophy that equipment provides the means to achieve process implementation, we have carried out the following design and engineering solutions, which have delivered excellent operational results and offered users a precise process equipment solution tailored specifically to their needs.
Bonding treatment between the backside of the target material and the sputtering target surface
- It is challenging to achieve direct surface-to-surface contact between the target material and the target surface. If this surface contact cannot be realized, the contact resistance will increase, leading to an insufficient amplitude of the ionization electric field (since the increased contact resistance causes a greater voltage drop across the contact interface), ultimately resulting in poor coating performance. Moreover, the heightened resistance causes the target material to heat up, further degrading the quality of the deposited film.
- Poor contact between the target material and the target surface leads to inadequate water-cooling performance, thereby reducing coating quality.
- Add a layer of special, soft, thin material with conductive and thermal properties to ensure surface contact.
Distance is adjustable
The distance between the substrate and the target material is adjustable to meet the film-deposition process requirements for different target materials.
Adjustable angle
The magnetron sputtering target head features an adjustable angle, allowing precise control to ensure uniformity across substrates of varying sizes.
Integrated, All-in-One Cabinet Structure
Advantages of the integrated cabinet structure:
Good safety features (operators won't come into contact with high-voltage or rotating components)
It occupies a small footprint, measuring approximately: 1100mm in length × 780mm in width (while a standard office door is 800mm wide)—compared to traditional equipment, which typically measures around 2200mm × 1000mm. On the same-sized workspace, you can fit two units side by side.
Control System
Adopting a two-level control system featuring computer plus PLC
Security
- Detection and Protection of Power Systems
- Set up vacuum detection and alarm protection functionality
- Temperature Detection and Alarm Protection
- Pressure and Flow Detection of the Cooling Circulating Water System
- Detection and Alarm Protection
Uniform Gas Technology
The process gas utilizes uniform gas distribution technology, resulting in a more even gas field and more consistent coating.
Substrate Heating Technology
By using armored heating wires, the metal filaments that generate heat through electricity remain shielded from exposure within the vacuum chamber, preventing the release of impurities during high-temperature heating and ensuring the purity of the thin film. The armored heating wires are then placed inside a temperature-controlled unit to maintain uniform thermal distribution before applying heat to the substrate.
Higher vacuum level, faster pumping speed
Inside and outside the vacuum chamber, everything has been electrochemically polished to completely eliminate the microscopic burr "forest" on the surface (visible under a microscope), leaving no microscopic crevices where contaminants could hide. As a result, the internal surface area of the chamber is reduced by more than half, leading to purer coatings, higher vacuum levels, and faster pumping speeds.
Equipment Structure and Performance:
1. Single-coating chamber, dual-coating chamber, single-coating chamber + sample-loading chamber, coating chamber + glove box
2. Number and type of magnetron sputtering targets: 1 to 6 targets, circular planar targets
3. Target installation positions: downward from top to bottom, upward from bottom to top, diagonal, and side-mounted
4. Magnetron Sputtering Targets: RF, IF, DC Pulsed, and DC Compatible
5. The substrate is rotatable, heatable, liftable, and capable of applying bias voltage.
6. Introduce the reaction gas to perform reactive sputtering coating.
7. Operation modes: Manual, Semi-automatic, Fully automatic
8. If a higher background vacuum is required, configure a LOADLOCK, an ultra-high-vacuum magnetron sputtering target, and adopt a folding-type sample transfer system, along with an ultra-high-vacuum robotic arm or standard vacuum robotic arm. The system can achieve a ultimate vacuum as low as 10–9 Torr. ^-8 Pa
Main Technical Specifications of the Equipment
- Substrate holder: Configured according to the size of the supplied parts.
- Substrate heater temperature: Configured according to user-supplied requirements. The temperature can be precisely controlled and adjusted via computer programming.
- Substrate automatic speed: 2–20 RPM.
- The substrate holder is heatable, rotatable, and liftable.
- The distance between the target surface and the substrate is adjustable from 30 mm to 140 mm.
- 1 to 6 pieces of flat, circular targets ranging from Φ2 to Φ12 inches, equipped with a pneumatic target control panel; the targets can be pivoted to adjust their angle.
- Coating chamber's ultimate vacuum: 6 x 10 ^-5 Pa~7X10 ^-8 Pa, resume work with background vacuum at 7 × 10 ^-4 Pa: About 30 minutes (new equipment filled with dry nitrogen)
- Overall equipment leakage rate: Vacuum level ≤5 Pa after 12 hours of shutdown
Equipment Operating Conditions