Grant: Research Tools and Instruments

Thin film deposition is essential in many applications in the semiconductor industry enabling the miniaturization and efficiency of a variety of devices ranging from electronic chips, microscale Laser or light emitting diode or biosensors used for early diagnosis in cancer research. There are two main fabrication  techniques to deposit thin films with thicknesses ranging from a few nanometers to a few hundred nanometers of a selected material such as gold, silver, indium thin oxide or many other metals or metal alloys. Sputtering is a common deposition method used in any nanofabrication step to fabricate a conductive layer that is generally patterned using lithography techniques. In sputtering technology, a target -the material to deposit as thin film- is placed into a vacuum chamber in presence of Argon gas. A negative bias is applied to the target causing the formation of ionized Argon also called a plasma. The negative charges of the target collide with argon ionized atoms which become positively charged thus colliding with the target at high velocity and producing the ejection of the target metallic atoms that deposit onto the receiving substrate This RTI application aims at replacing an obsolete and failing sputtering instrument operating non-stop since 2002 in an open user nanofabrication facility at Western University. In particular, the electronic control boards that drive the high power sources generating the plasma are failing  and are now impossible to replace by new ones. Additionally all sensors and pressure gauge controlling the uniformity and reproducibility of the plasma are not as accurate as they should be which is normal after 20 years of intense use. The sputtering system is located in a campus core facility that provide training on a series of instrumentation used in nanofabrication processes. The Western Nanofabrication Facility formally opened in 2004 and was one of the first ones in Canada providing 280 m2 of class 100 and class 1000 clean space to all HQP at Western, other universities and industrial users. Annually there are about 90 HQP trained and using regularly the facility, including the sputtering instrument to deposit thin films and fabricate a variety of devices ranging from dichroic filters, optical waveguides to plasmonic sensors. The required instrument will be maintained by the nanofabrication staff and supported by hourly rate and the cost of the deposited metal which is variable depending on the metal. The instrument can be booked online by any users who receive the proper hands on training on the instrument. All co-PIs and their HQP are currently using the sputtering deposition system for their research projects. The training in nanofabrication instrumentation including sputtering thin film fabrication  provides added value to all HQP  who will be working in the field of advanced materials, device conception but also in surface science where thin films can serve as an active or passive layer.