[labnetwork] Sputtering GdFeCo

[Matthew Moneck]

Hi Aaron,

I worked with GdFeCo many years ago.  I’m hesitant to comment on any hazards, as you will need to assess what is best for your facility.  We treated it the same we would as other Co and Ni based alloys.  I can tell you it is very sensitive to oxygen, so I do suggest storing it in an inert environment if possible.  Because of its sensitivity, we also found that base pressure was extremely important.  We could not achieve the necessary magnetic properties unless we deposited with a base pressure below 2e-7 Torr (at high 10e-8 scale, the properties were decent).  We had the problem that our system was not load-locked, so we had to do long presputters as well.  We also found it helped to do a little gettering prior to deposition by sputtering a lot of Ti or Ta in the chamber.  Hope this helps.

Best Regards,

Matt

--
Matthew T. Moneck, Ph.D
Executive Manager, Claire & John Bertucci Nanotechnology Laboratory
Electrical & Computer Engineering | Carnegie Mellon University
5000 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15213-3890
Phone:  412-268-5430
ece.cmu.edu<http://www.ece.cmu.edu>
nanofab.ece.cmu.edu<http://www.nanofab.ece.cmu.edu>

From: labnetwork-bounces at mtl.mit.edu <labnetwork-bounces at mtl.mit.edu> On Behalf Of Aaron Hryciw
Sent: Friday, May 1, 2020 7:12 PM
To: labnetwork at mtl.mit.edu
Subject: [labnetwork] Sputtering GdFeCo

Dear colleagues,

We recently had a request to deposit GdFeCo in one of our shared-use sputtering systems.  We have no experience with this material, and would appreciate any advice you could share.

The issue I've come across is a discrepancy between different SDSs for commercial Gd24Fe68Co8 sputtering targets.  One vendor's SDS indicated that the material was not classified as hazardous and had no special handling or storage considerations; another listed Category 1 respiratory and skin sensitisation, water reactivity, and storage under an inert atmosphere, presumably by combining the hazards listed for the individual elements.

Can anyone comment on the hazard and storage requirements of this material, especially in the context of an open-access facility ?  For our shared-used systems, targets are swapped weekly, and there is currently no provision at our facility to store the target in an inert, moisture-free environment when it is not in the system.  Is such inert storage necessary?  Many thanks.

Cheers,

 – Aaron



Aaron Hryciw, PhD, PEng

Fabrication Group Manager

University of Alberta - nanoFAB

W1-060 ECERF Building

9107 - 116 Street

Edmonton, Alberta

Canada T6G 2V4 Ph: 780-940-7938
www.nanofab.ualberta.ca<http://www.nanofab.ualberta.ca/>
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