Open AccessDeterministic control of thin film thickness in physical vapor deposition systems using a multi-aperture mask
Author(s) -
John W. Arkwright,
Ian D. Underhill,
Nathan Pereira,
M. Gross
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
optics express
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.394
H-Index - 271
ISSN - 1094-4087
DOI - 10.1364/opex.13.002731
Subject(s) - optics , materials science , aperture (computer memory) , wafer , physical vapor deposition , thin film , lithium niobate , substrate (aquarium) , deposition (geology) , chemical vapor deposition , sputtering , optoelectronics , nanotechnology , paleontology , oceanography , physics , sediment , geology , acoustics , biology
A technique for controlling the thickness profile of a thin film in physical vapor deposition systems is reported. The technique uses a novel mask design with apertures of varying dimension to selectively deposit the required film thickness at predetermined locations across the aperture of the substrate. The technique has been used to correct the thickness uniformity of a 55 mm diameter, 280 microm thick, lithium niobate wafer to less than 0.5 nm rms, and also to improve the uniformity of deposited films in an Ion Beam Sputtering system to better than 0.5% over a 50 mm aperture.