Dielectric Deposition at High-Metallic Rates

High rate processes for deposition of dielectric films have been developed using DC reactive sputtering on scanning batch tools. A typical high rate process for the deposition of silicon dioxide films from a conductively doped silicon target would allow the formation of nearly one micron of SiO2 in fifteen minutes, as compared with nearly five hours when RF magnetron sputtered from a quartz target.

ITO - A New Approach

A new ionized PVD, Negative Sputter Ion Beam technology was developed at KDF for the deposition of super-smooth indium-tin oxide (ITO) thin films with highly transparent and conductive properties at near-room temperature deposition. A limited amount of cesium vapor injected onto a conventional sputtering target surface lowers the work function of the target and produces a negatively charged sputter ion beam. The negative sputter ion beam carriers the kinetic energy defined by the potential difference between the cathode and substrate.

Aluminum Nitride

In recent years, Aluminum Nitride (AlN) has generated a lot research interest because of its attractive properties for microelectronic and optoelectronic applications. AlN film can be grown by PVD or CVD techniques. CVD can produce highly oriented epitaxial AlN film, but suffers from a slow deposition rate and thermal stress due to substrate heating. Reactive sputtering produces a film of differing quality in term of microcrystalline properties, but has a high deposition rate and allows for processing at low substrate temperatures. KDF sputtering systems are capable of growing production-worthy AlN films.

Combined Linear Scanning, Velocity Profiling and
Planetary Rotating Motion

Exceptionally high uniformities and tight repeatabilities have been achieved for dielectric films on KDF 900 series sputtering tools using a proprietary ERPP™ (enhanced rotating planetary pallet) in conjunction with the tool's standard linear scanning mode.

Linearly Moving Magnetron (LMM™)

With the LMM technology, the plasma is swept across the target to achieve a uniform full-face target erosion and high target utilization. Figures 1 and 2 show the target erosion profiles for a stationary, and a LMM cathode. The LMM cathode is by design a superior technology in terms of process stability and repeatability from run-to-run and over the target life-time. This, in turn, translates to higher productivity and cost savings for the customer.

Transparent Conducting Oxides (TCO)

In additions to ITO, KDF is developing a family of TCOs such as Al-doped ZnO, for applications requiring transparent conductors. 

Dry Etch-Band Magnetron Cathode (BMC™)