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ATC ORION SERIES SPUTTERING SYSTEMS

General Information

AJA International ATC Orion Series Sputtering Systems are compact versions of the popular ATC Flagship Series physical vapor deposition tools designed to deliver maximum performance for limited budgets. These HV and UHV systems inherit many design features and common parts from the highly evolved ATC sputtering tools. The standard ATC Orion modules (chambers, frames, cluster flanges, etc.) are generally in stock at AJA thereby reducing delivery times.

These popular systems use AJA's exclusive Stiletto (HV) and A300-XP (UHV) magnetron sputtering sources (2" and 3") and can be fitted with heating and cooling stages to accommodate substrates up to 6" Ø. Substrate temperature ranges from cooled LN2 to 1000°C are available depending on size and configuration. Typically, ATC Orion Systems feature a number of fixed angle sputter sources. The Orion 8 accommodates up to (8) 2" sputter sources or (5) 3" sputter sources, the Orion 5 accommodates up to (5) 2"

sputter sources. A special version of the Orion 8 is also available that features (4) 2" magnetron sputtering sources with in-situ tilt capability. ATC Orion Systems can also be easily connected to each other or to other ATC Systems for multi-chamber (e.g. metal/oxide) or multi-technique (e.g. sputter/evaporation/PLD/ion milling) configurations.

TYPICAL orion SPUTTERING SYSTEM CONFIGURATIONS

ATC-Orion 5 UHV with Load-Lock

ATC-Orion 5 UHV with Load-Lock
Fitted with up to (5) 2" UHV magnetron sputter sources.

ATC-Orion 8

ATC-Orion 8 UHV
Fitted with up to (5) 3" or (8) 2" UHV magnetron sputtering sources. This unit features a turbo-pumped vacuum load lock with 6 position cassette.

ATC-Orion 8 HV
Fitted with up to (5) 3" or (8) 2" HV magnetron sputter sources. This unit features a HiPIMS power supply.

TYPICAL RATE / UNIFORMITY DATA

The ATC Orion Series Sputtering Systems feature a con-focal sputter source flange oriented at specific angles determined from many years of experience with the in-situ tilt sources found on the flagship ATC systems. The specially designed chimney/ground shield/shutter system allows a high degree of deposition uniformity over substrates more than twice the target diameter. A typical deposition profile with SiO2 on a 4" diameter Si wafer is shown.

Deposition rate is a function of sputter yield of the material, maximum allowable power density into the target (depends on heat transfer capability of target material), and type of power used (e.g. RF, DC, pulsed DC).

Maximum deposition rates are achieved with materials such as Au - high sputter yield, excellent heat transfer material and can be sputtered with DC (most efficient).

Deposition of SiO2 from one 2" A320-XP magnetron onto a 100mm diameter Si wafer at 150 Watts, 3mTorr, 140mm working distance. Uniformity is +/- 2.08%.

Slow deposition rates can be expected with materials such as Al2O3 - very low sputter yield, poor heat transfer material and must be sputtered with RF (1/2 the efficiency of DC). Typical rates are 0-18 Å/sec with Au, 0-9 Å/sec with Cu and 0-0.16 Å/sec with Al2O3 in a confocal configuration with 2" sources on a 100 mm Ø substrate.

Direct deposition at short working distances (50-100 mm) can achieve higher rates but con-focal geometry results in much better uniformity, the ability to co-deposit alloy films and the ability to grow better ultra-thin film multilayers since the substrate is always "in the plasma." The cost of the smaller targets employed in con-focal configurations can also significantly reduce operating cost.

MAGNETRON SPUTTERING SOURCE CLUSTER FLANGES

AJA's Stiletto-O (HV) and A300-XP-O (UHV) magnetron sputtering sources (2" & 3" target sizes) are designed specifically to fit cluster flanges for the compact ATC Orion Systems. They feature tunable isolation chimneys with gas injection and flip-top shutters to accommodate compact spaces and custom chimney designs. The basic magnetron/
cathode assembly is identical to the unique AJA A300 Series modular magnetrons which are used in the flagship ATC systems. The magnet array can be configured by the customer to operate in the balanced, unbalanced (Type II) and magnetic material modes. Due to the compact design, the complete shutter, isolation chimney and ground shield assembly is quickly removed with only two screws for easy target access.

ATC Orion 8 Cluster Flange
Flange accepts up to (5) 3” sources.

ATC Orion 5 HV Cluster Flange
Shown with (3) sputtering sources, and (1)
resistive thermal evaporation source with water cooled isolation.

ATC Orion 8 Cluster Flange
Flange accepts up to (8) 2” sources.

Custom ATC Orion 8 Cluster flange
Accepts up to (4) 2”, HV or UHV, in-situ tilting sputtering sources. System is shown with chamber liner.

SUBSTRATE HOLDERS - HEATERS

The con-focal ATC Orion systems utilize motorized, rotating substrate holders to achieve excellent uniformity, allow the co-deposition of alloy films and facilitate the deposition of pristine, ultra-thin film multilayers since the substrate is always "in the plasma". Substrate heaters are available to reach up to 1000°C and feature reactive gas injection rings, RF/DC bias capability, in-situ manual or motorized Z motion (for working distance adjustment and load-lock transfer) and in-situ mask exchange (available only with certain configurations).

Cooled substrate carriers utilizing either water or LN2 are also available depending on the application requirement.

For combinatorial chemistry applications (simultaneously deposited gradient films) both heated and cooled substrate holders which do not require rotation during deposition are offered.

A wide variety of custom substrate holders have also been designed, over the years.

PHASE II-J COMPUTER CONTROL

The AJA Labview based Phase II-J computer control system is used on all ATC Orion Series Sputtering Systems . This straightforward, user friendly control system utilizes a large screen laptop in a 19” rack drawer connected to a single 4U rack mount hardware module. 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-J 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. Data-logging to a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet is standard and is available with an adjustable refresh period. Remote preparation of new processes in a spreadsheet emulator format is available as an option.

The standard Phase II-J control system will accommodate up to (5) DC power supplies, (4) RF power supplies, (1) 4-way DC switchbox, (1) 4-way RF switchbox, (4) process gases , (16) Valves/shutters, closed loop automatic pressure control, substrate rotation and substrate temperature control. Processes are aborted if plasma is not detected. Special “soak layers” can be easily incorporated into the process.

Labview based Computer Control
Large screen laptop on convenient slide drawer
for Labview based ATC system computer control.
Replacement laptops are always in stock.

Computer Control Module Phase IIJ PLC
Compact 4U rack mount case. This module is fitted from the outset with all receptacles for quick field retrofits/upgrades.