Vacuum deposition technologies

Several techniques are applicable to bulk polymer materials, such as vacuum deposition technologies. Vacuum deposition processes may be used to obtain thin polymer films that have high density, thermal stability, and insolubility in organic solvents, acids, and alkalis. These polymer deposition techniques involve in situ polymerization on a substrate surface affected by various factors. The layers can be deposited on any substrates that cannot be damaged by the vacuum processes. The following are all examples of vacuum deposition processes (Skolheim 1986 Harsanyi 20(X)) ... 

Other uses are in thin film technology where coatings are applied by vacuum deposition. Tungsten boats, or coils fabricated from wire are heated by direct resistance heating and used to evaporate Ag, Al, Au, B, Ba, Ce, Cr, Fe, In, Mg, Mn, Ni, Pa, Pt, SiO, Te, V, Zn and Zr. 

Electrodeposition presents, in principle, several advantages for the investigation and production of layered alloys. Among these are the tendency of electrodeposited materials to grow epitaxial and thus to form materials with a texture influenced by the substrate. Electrodeposition can be used in systems that do not lend themselves to vacuum deposition. The electrodeposition process is inexpensive and can be upscaled with relative ease for use on large parts further, it is a room-temperature technology. This last point may be important for systems in which undesirable interdiffusion between the adjacent layers may readily occur. 

Kim H (2003) Atomic layer deposition of metal and nitride thin films. Current research efforts and applications for semiconductor device processing. Journal of Vacuum Science Technology B 21(6), 2231-2261... 

Ma, Y., Yasuda, T. and Lucovsky, G. Fixed and trapped charges at oxide-nitride-oxide heterostructure interfaces formed by remote plasma-enhanced chemical-vapor-deposition. Journal of Vacuum Science Technology 11, 1533-1540 (1993). 

Vacuum evaporation is a widely used technology for deposition of a wide variety of materials, particularly in the coatings and electronics industries. A complete discussion of this technique may be found in the classic text by Holland entitled Vacuum Deposition of Thin Films [56]. The subject is also treated in numerous texts on microelectronics [5]. Discussion here focuses on metal deposition, since this is the case most commonly encountered in the preparation of film electrodes. 

While these polymeric materials hold promise for low-cost electronics and simplified device processing, they still suffer from lower performance than conventional inorganic semiconductors. As the development of these novel materials continues, an alternative technology incorporating patterning schemes such as inkjet printing and conventional vacuum deposited thin films, may provide the required overlap of performance with low-cost fabrication of microelectronic circuits on large-area platforms. 

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