ATC-T Series
Electron Beam Evaporation Systems
General Information
AJA International ATC-T Series Thermal Evaporation Systems are thin film deposition tools offering exceptional value while delivering optimal performance and utilizing top quality sub-components. They are available in both cylindrical (UHV) and box style (HV) configurations. These systems inherit many design features and common parts from the highly evolved ATC & ATC Orion sputtering tools and can be outfitted with AJA International's unique 300 Amp, water-cooled thermal evaporation sources, Knudsen cells, low temperature evaporation cells for organic materials and thermal evaporation furnace sources. In addition, these tools can include AJA magnetron sputter sources, load-locks, QCM control, heated or cooled substrate holders, planetaries, various pumping packages and automated control.
Evaporation Sources
AJA’s offers a variety of evaporation sources on the ATC Orion-T and ATC 2036-T deposition systems. Commonly used evaporation sources are k-cell, resistive boat and Radak furnace. The ATC-Orion-T vertical cylinder chambers are best suited for single or multi-layer applications accommodating between 4-6 thermal sources and handling substrates up to 4” in diameter. The ATC 2036-T deposition systems utilize a larger, box-style chamber allowing single, multi-layer and co-deposition processes, between 6-8 thermal sources, and substrate handling up to 8” in diameter.
The actual data shown at the left was taken from the ATC 1800-T shown above with (4) Radak II Furnaces. The uniformity achieved over a 100 mm diameter wafer is +/- 2%. In this system any of the (4) Radak sources can achieve this uniformity when operated independently or when operated simultaneously in a controllable co-deposition experiment.
Typical Rate/Uniformity Data
The ATC-T Series Thermal Evaporation Systems can be configured for high and low rate/temperature applications. Controlled co-deposition is also a specialty. Proper substrate fixturing/motion is ideal for optimizing uniformity.
Substrate Holders - Heating/Cooling
AJA can fit your customized evaporation system with a wide variety of substrate holders. Our substrate heaters can be equipped with azimuthal rotation, heating up to 1000°C, RF/DC bias capability and tilting in a single axis plane. Our cooled stages can be equipped with H2O or LN2 cooling in the static or rotational modes. Additional features include azimuthal rotation, RF/DC bias and tilting in a single axis plane. Substrate holders can be semi-automatic or fully automated depending on the process requirements. Custom configurations are also available when heating and cooling are required.
For batch coating applications, domed-styled substrate carriers optimized for lift-off processing and planetary-style holders, are also available. Process gas ring or gas distributor options are offered for reactive processing or applications requiring an anneal step.
850°C Heater with QCM Isolation tubes
When controlled thermal co-deposition is desired, individual isolated QCM's are required. AJA has optimized software to make this reliable and consistent.
800°C 6" Heater with QCM Isolation tubes In this picture, a larger version of the substrate heater on the left is shown with as many as 6 QCM isolation tubes.
Phase II-Au Computer Control
The AJA LabVIEW based Phase II-Au computer control system is used on all Evaporation Systems. This straightforward, user friendly control system utilizes a large 22” articulating screen with wireless keyboard and mouse. The back panel of the hardware module is populated with connectors to interface to all aspects of the sputtering system and to allow for easy future "plug and play" upgrades/expansions.
The Phase II-Au control system allows the user to operate in either the “manual mode” or the “automated processing mode.” In the, “automated processing mode” the user designs "process layers” which are then compiled and saved as a “process” to be executed with a single command. The system allows up to 104 unique user entry points which are accessible only by password, limiting access to a user’s process layers and thereby preventing unexpected corruption of a user’s saved processes. Special “soak layers” can be easily incorporated into the process. Adjustable time base Data-logging to a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet is standard. Remote preparation of new processes in a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet emulator format is available as an option.
The standard Phase II-Au control system will accommodate up to (3) DC power supplies, (3) RF power supplies, (1) 4-way DC switchbox, (1) 4-way RF switchbox, (1) DC Ion Source, (1) RF Ion Source, (1) Linear or Rotary Ebeam, (1) Deposition Controller, automatic selection of sweep pattern based on material, (4) process gases, (24) Valves/shutters, down stream closed loop automatic pressure control, substrate rotation, substrate tilting and indexing and substrate temperature control. Processes are aborted if plasma is not detected, substrate temperature, process gas or chamber pressure is out of range.
