Ultrahigh vacuum sputtering cluster (1):
Fully automated robot transfer
This system is a fully automated ultra-high vacuum chamber cluster deposition system operable via PC. A robot transfer mechanism automatically transports substrates from the load lock chamber to each deposition chamber. Creating a deposition recipe for each chamber enables automatic thin film fabrication based on those settings. In addition to 10-target sputtering and co-sputtering, it enables various physical vapor deposition (PVD) methods including electron beam evaporation (EB) and molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). Substrate temperatures during deposition can be set up to 800°C (1000°C in MBE chamber), supporting thin film fabrication for a wide range of materials.
Furthermore, RHEED (Reflection High Energy Electron Diffraction) system enables crystallographic evaluation of the sample surface during thin film growth (in EB, MBE chambers) and immediately after deposition. Each chamber is also equipped with a linear shutter system, supporting the fabrication of wedge-shaped film structures with automatically modulated film thickness. The combined use of RHEED and the linear shutter enables efficient optimization of conditions for thin-film devices such as TMR devices.
This system has been used in the fabrication of our TMR device (FIG. 10) described in the following press release paper.
[NIMS Press Release] Achieving Low Resistance and High Performance in MTJs Using High-Entropy Oxides
