In essence, magnetron sputtering is the use of plasma to thinly coat a substrate in metal or some other material. It works by creating a vacuum, introducing argon, applying a voltage to spark a plasma, and knocking loose atoms from a sputtering target. These atoms are guided by a magnetic field to thinly coat a desired substrate. This is a deceptively simple function, but provides an avenue for a lot of interesting science and research. For a more detailed explanation, see the Investigations in Magnetron Sputtering PowerPoint available on the Resources page. This PowerPoint was presented at the Berry College 2021 Symposium on Student Scholarship.
The magnetron sputterer used in our lab was entirely designed and built by the students. A detailed manual on the construction and operation of the sputterer, in addition to the 3D printed parts designed for use with our sputterer are availible as .stl files are available on the Resources page.
Current Projects
Sputtering of Indium Tin Oxide
General improvements and optimizations to the system
Completed Projects
Construction
Optimization of Nickel and Copper depositions.