[labnetwork] Metamaterials deposition - Ag and SiO2

[Mike Simmons]

Greetings Esta,

You might consider e-beam evaporation for the Ag and thermal sublimation 
for the SiO2 if this is convenient given your machine architecture.  
Keep in mind that SiO2 vapor goes everywhere in the system; much more so 
than evaporated metals.  If you are hesitant to put SiO2 into this new 
system in the first place, consider that it will try to find every nook 
and crannie in your new chamber so that you'll want to budget enough 
time to take the appropriate precautions prior to deposition.  If those 
precautions are taken and the system is properly cleaned after the SiO2 
work, I would not expect you to have troubles with future metal 
deposition in that system.

We have experience sputtering both of those materials.  They sputter 
very well and as is typical, the density of the sputter deposited layer 
is generally greater than the evaporated layer, so that could be factor 
depending upon the desired properties of the deposited film.  SiO2 via 
sputtering can be done by RF with an extremely low deposition rate, or 
with a doped Silicon or doped SiO2 target by DC or pulsed DC 
sputtering.  Aluminum is a typical dopant and just a few percent will 
make it conductive enough to DC sputter in this fashion, though you'll 
have to determine if the doped SiO2 index is acceptable.  The deposition 
rate of doped target SiO2 by pulsed DC, while significantly better than 
RF, is also rather low unless you have a good reactive sputter control 
that keeps the process running high on the hysteresis curve. Overall, 
evaporating the materials is simpler and higher rate than sputtering 
them, particularly for the SiO2, though the films will be somewhat 
denser by sputtering.

Best of luck to you!
Mike

*Mike Simmons*
President, INTELLIVATION LLC
1230 Blue Spruce Drive, Suite 3 *|* Fort Collins, CO 80524, USA
+1 (970) 692-2335 *office**|* +1 (888) 800-9561 *fax***
www.intelli-vation.com

On 7/31/2017 6:09 PM, Abelev, Esta wrote:
>
> Dear Colleagues,
>
> Recently, we got a request to deposit SiO2 and Ag in our e-beam 
> evaporator. We have only one e-beam UHV evaporator (brand new) which 
> we planned to dedicate for metals (only). From what was discussed the 
> group is planning to deposit alternative layers of SiO2 and Ag 
> (10-20nm thick) to ~1micron thick overall thickness.
>
> Did anyone have experience with similar multilayer structures, would 
> you advise me if e-beam evaporation or sputtering would better for 
> this project?
>
> If we will have to go with evaporation of SiO2, will it have 
> contamination issues with metal deposition?
>
> Thanks for advice, Esta
>
> -----------------------
>
> *Esta Abelev, PhD*
>
> Technical Director,//Petersen Institute of NanoScience and Engineering
>
> University of Pittsburgh | 3700 O’Hara Street | 636| Pittsburgh, PA 15261
>
> 412-383-4096 | eabelev at pitt.edu <mailto:eabelev at pitt.edu> | 
> nano.pitt.edu 
> <https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nano.pitt.edu%2F&data=01%7C01%7Ceabelev%40pitt.edu%7C9f5bd58ba84940765cf308d4024fbe18%7C9ef9f489e0a04eeb87cc3a526112fd0d%7C1&sdata=3KfbG5VbshqdoIAPxvX%2F2s1UeU7ultmBoZmm%2FaZ2Itc%3D&reserved=0>
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