Sputtering Deposition

Abstract

Hundreds of research papers on various elements of sputtering have been published. The goal of this chapter is to present different aspects of sputtering that have been observed when materials are exposed to intense ion beams. Sputtering deposition is a common physical vapor deposition technology that has benefits over the molecular beam epitaxy and pulsed laser deposition in order to produce films of large area for a variety of industrial applications. Sputtering deposition has a reputation for producing high-quality epitaxial coatings and complicated oxide super-lattices at a cheaper cost than other methods, and the resulting films have proven to be essential enablers of scientific advancement. The sputtering process is discussed in detail, as well as the design and basic operations of the sputtering system, the effects of low and high energy sputtering, and changes in sputtering performance as a function of both the sputtering gas composition and the incident ion mass, dose, energy and angle. Sputtering deposition’s benefits, limits, and future trends are also discussed. Sputtering deposition is an important green technology for material production.