Detailed SVC Course Syllabus

C-103 Introduction to Physical Vapor Deposition (PVD)

ProcessesPhysical vapor deposition (PVD) processes are atomistic deposition processes in which material vaporized from a source is transported in the form of a vapor through a vacuum or low-pressure gaseous environment to the substrate, where it condenses and film growth takes place. PVD processes can be used to deposit films of compound materials by the reaction of depositing material with the ambient gas environment or with a co-deposited material. This course will discuss and compare the four basic PVD techniques: vacuum evaporation, sputter deposition, arc vapor deposition, and ion plating. Vacuum evaporation uses thermal vaporization as a source of depositing atoms; sputter deposition uses physical sputtering as the vaporizing source; arc vapor deposition uses a high-current, low-voltage arc for vaporization; and ion plating uses concurrent or periodic energetic particle bombardment to modify the film growth. The parameters used for each technique will be discussed along with their advantages, disadvantages, and applications.

The course is divided into three parts and includes the source of the vapors, the transport of the vapors and the condensation of the vapors onto the substrates.  Factors that affect the deposition process at all these three locations will be discussed.  For example, in the case of sputtering the discussion of the processes at the target includes the ion-surface interactions, the momentum transfer processes, the affect of relative masses of the sputtering gas and the target material, the angle of incidence, etc. The transport of the sputtered flux is affected by the pressure, ionization density of the plasma, the chemical nature of the plasma, etc.  The condensation is affected by the nature and condition of the substrate, the energy of the incoming material, etc.  These factors will be discussed for all the PVD processes.

This is an entry-level course to acquaint the students with various PVD processes used for "surface engineering."Course Content

• Introduction to vacuum basics and instrumentation related to obtaining and measuring vacuum.
• Introduction: deposition environments (vacuum and plasma), film formation, film structures, reactive deposition, factors affecting film properties
• Vacuum evaporation and vaporization, evaporation and sublimation, deposition chambers, vaporization sources (resistive and e-beam), evaporation materials, fixture design, process parameters, monitoring and control, advantages and disadvantages, applications
• Sputter deposition and physical sputtering, plasmas (DC, rf, magnetron, and pulsed DC), sputtering target configurations, reactive sputter deposition, sputtering materials, process parameters, monitoring and control, advantages and disadvantages, applications
• Arc vapor deposition and vacuum and plasma arcs, properties of arcs, generation and "steering" of arcs, arc sources, reactive arc deposition, process parameters, monitoring and control, advantages and disadvantages, applications
• Ion plating and bombardment effects, bombardment configurations, reactive ion plating, ion plating vaporization sources and evaporation, sputtering and arc process parameters, monitoring and control, advantages and disadvantages, applications
• PVD deposition systems and configurations (batch, load-lock, and in-line), pumping options
• Condensation processes and thin film formation.
• A brief discussion of the various thin film characterization processes.

Course follows Handbook of Physical Vapor Deposition (PVD) Processing, Donald M. Mattox (William Andrew Publishing/Noyes Publications, 1998).

Instructor: S. Ismat Shah, University of Delaware