Tantalum vacuum deposition

Europium is now prepared by mixing EU2O3 with a 10%-excess of lanthanum metal and heating the mixture in a tantalum crucible under high vacuum. The element is collected as a silvery-white metallic deposit on the walls of the crucible. 

The organic deposition sources are made of a variety of materials including ceramics (e.g., boron nitride, aluminum oxide, and quartz) or metallic boats (e.g., tantalum or molybdenum). Deposition is carried out in high vacuum at a base pressure of around 10-7 torr. The vacuum conditions under which OLEDs are fabricated are extremely important [41] and evaporation rates, monitored using quartz oscillators, are typically in the range 0.01 0.5 nm/s in research and development tools. In manufacturing, higher rates or multiple sources may be used to reduce tact times. 

In practice, a mixture of actinide dioxide and graphite powder is first pelletized and then heated to 2275 K in vacuum in a graphite crucible until a drop in the system pressure indicates the end of CO evolution. The resulting actinide carbide is then mixed with tantalum powder, and the mixture is pressed into pellets. The reduction occurs in a tantalum crucible under vacuum. At the reduction temperature, the actinide metal is vaporized and deposited on a tantalum or water-cooled copper condenser. 

For compounds that might be decomposed by sublimation into vacuum, such as DNA, two different techniques have been developed to produce thin biomolecular films on metal substrates. When multilayer films are required, the molecules are put in a solution from which a small aliquot is lyophilized on a tantalum substrate [18]. The sample preparation and manipulations are performed within a sealed glove box under a pure dry nitrogen atmosphere. The average film thickness is usually estimated from the amount of biomolecular material deposited and its density... 

All experiments were performed on 200mm wafers using Semitool s plating tool. Trenches with various geometries and aspect-ratios were patterned in silicon oxide coated wafers. Titanium Nitride (TiN) or Tantalum (Ta) diffusion barriers with nominal thickness of 300 A were deposited on the trenches by vacuum techniques such as PVD or CVD. Unless specified differently, a PVD copper adhesion layer with a nominal thickness of 200A was deposited on top of the barrier by PVD techniques. This thin PVD copper adhesion layer was electrochemically enhanced in Semitool s proprietary ECD seed plating solution prior to the full deposition from an acid copper sulfate bath. 

To create a copper microchip, first a layer of tantalum coats a silicon substrate. Then, copper is deposited using a vacuum process. Copper chips like this one are used in handheid games, computers, and other electronic devices. 

In one embodiment patented by Makrides et al., tantalum foils were electrolyti-cally etched in hydrofluoric acid, washed with acetone and, while still wet with acetone, placed in vacuum and dried by evacuation. Using an argon plasma at a pressure of about 1 mm Hg (133.3 Pa), palladium was deposited onto both sides of the membranes to recommended thicknesses between 10 and 100 nm. Membranes of niobium and vanadium were prepared in the same manner, except that, in addition, vanadium was degassed in vacuum at 1273 K (1000 °C) to remove oxygen. Unalloyed palladium as well as Pd-Ag, Pd-Au and Pd-B, were also patented as hydrogen dissociation catalysts and as protective layers for the highly reactive niobium, tantalum and vanadium. 

Spitz, J. Chevallier, J. (1975) Comparative study of tantalum deposition by chemical vapor deposition and electron beam vacuum evaporation. In Proceedings 5th International Conference CVD, pp. 204-216. 

Spitz J. and Chevalier J., Comparative Study of Tantalum by Chemical Vapor Deposition and Electron Beam Vacuum Evaporation, (1975) 5th international conference on CVD... 

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