Vacuum sputtering

The microscale friction and wear behavior of thin film of gold (Au) which was prepared in a vacuum sputtering apparatus was investigated. The substrate is Si(lOO) wafer. The film thickness is about 800 nm. For comparison, the microscale friction and wear of the substrate was also studied. 

Recently, attempts have been made to reduce the cost of palladium metal membranes by preparing composite membranes. In these membranes a thin selective palladium layer is deposited onto a microporous ceramic, polymer or base metal layer [19-21], The palladium layer is applied by electrolysis coating, vacuum sputtering or chemical vapor deposition. This work is still at the bench scale. 

The one remaining important application technique devised so far was vacuum sputtering, which was first described in 1967. 

Because of this ready adherence to a substrate, molybdenum disulphide films can be produced in a wide variety of different ways, including flotation from the surface of a liquid, spraying, brushing or dipping in a volatile dispersant, bonding with adhesive or polymeric compounds, rubbing with powder, transfer, and vacuum sputtering. The nature of the initial film produced depends on the way in which it is applied, and all the important types will be discussed in subsequent chapters. 

Fig. 4 Dependence a of the parameter AF/pf and b Afjpp on the velocity decay length in different liquids, for an ideally smooth surface (lines 1), and experimental data for two real surfaces vacuum-sputtered gold (closed circles) and electrochemically deposited gold (open circles). Lines 2 and 3 represent results of parameter fitting, see text. (From [27])...

The electrode polarization could be reduced greatly by improving the electrode contacts with vacuum sputtered gold or silver powder films pressed on the pellets. Also, blocking the electrodes with thin mica sheets prevented the discharge of the cations and enabled us to recognize in our results the effects of the electrode polarization. 

The methods available for preparation of the different layers in thin-film solar cells include physical methods such as vacuum sputtering, vapor-phase deposition, and molecular beam epitaxy as well as chemical methods such as chemical vapor-phase deposition, metal organic vapor-phase epitaxy, chemical bath deposition (CBD), and electrochemical deposition (ED). This chapter explores the potential of electrodeposition as a route to the fabrication of absorber layers such as CdTe, CIGS, and CZTS for thin-film solar cells. Electrochemistry may also be usefiil for the preparation of transparent layers such as ZnO this topic has been reviewed by Pauporte and lincot [13]. 

A transparent electrode, usually ITO is vacuum sputtered on a glass substrate. 

The chiral SAMs were prepared on ultra-flat gold surfaces. Gold films of 50 nm thickness were deposited on mica substrates using a high vacuum sputtering technique. The chiral... 

Films of rro, indium-tin oxide (80% In Oj), are transparent to visible light but not to infrared Hght (IR). In addition they have good electrical conductivity. Vacuum sputter deposihon of ITO affords excellent coahng uniformity and adhesion. Film thickness should be in the range 1000-2000 A for high IR reflechvity, but the thickness has little influence on film conductivity. 

The US Techni-Met Inc., has developed a process which may benefit some electronic applications where surface quality is paramount. The process involves the use of vacuum-sputtering technology and an acrylic monomer to lay down an acrylic polymer surface on film. The acrylic bonds to the film substrate by crosslinking and suitable films for the process include PET, PEN, PVC and polyimide. The company claims that its process confers superior water, oxygen and optical properties. 

Rhim, J.-W. Preparation and characterization of vacuum sputter silver coated PLA film. 

Preliminary experimenu suggest that an adherent vacuum-sputtered carbon film can be deposited on gold-electroded PVDF elements at a temperature below the depolariza-lion temperature. Thus, the combined goab of efficient electrical insulation, impermeability lo blood fluids, flexibility and fatigue resistance, and minimum interaction with surroundings cells may be achieved for inqrtaniable devices. 

Submicron-size solid-membrane ion-selective nanoelectrodes were introduced already in the 1970s. Some of the earliest electrodes were fabricated by vacuum sputtering of a 250 nm thick Ag layer onto the tips of nanopipettes of ca. 300 nm tip diameter, followed by sealing the tips, except their very end (ca. 2-5 pm Table 22.3b). Thus, the smallest cross section of these electrodes used... 

Cost—Polymers may offer lower cost for electrochromic devices in case vacuum sputtering processes can be replaced by wet processing of polymers. High costs might be a significant limitation for commercialization. 

High energy reflected neutrals in low pressure and vacuum sputtering can be an important, but often uncontrolled, process variable. 

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