Ion beam sputtering (IBS), or ion beam deposition (IBD), is a thin film deposition technology that uses an ion source to deposit a sputtering target onto a substrate to produce the highest quality films with excellent precision. Compared to other PVD technologies, ion beam sputtering is more accurate and can accurately control the thickness of the substrate. As shown below, an IBS system usually includes the ion source, the target material, and the substrate. The ion beam, usually generated by the ion gun, is focused on the sputtering target, and the sputtered target material finally deposits onto the substrate to create a film.
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High Energy: Sputter coating utilizes momentum exchange to make atoms and molecules of the solid material to become the gas phase. The average energy of the sputtering is 10 eV, which is about 100 times higher than that of the vacuum evaporated particles. After deposition on the surface of the substrate, there is still sufficient kinetic energy to migrate on the surface of the substrate, so that the film is of good quality and firmly bonded to the substrate. Wide Application: Any material can be coated by IBS. The difference in sputtering characteristics of the material is smaller than the evaporation characteristics. Even materials with a high melting point can be sputtered. For the alloy and target compound materials, it is easy to form a film having the same ratio as the target component. Therefore, the application of sputter coating is very extensive. Good Uniformity: The incident ions in the sputter coating are generally obtained by the gas discharge method, and the working pressure is between 10-2Pa~10Pa. The sputter ions often collide with gas molecules in the vacuum chamber before flying to the substrate, so the direction of motion randomly deviates from the original direction. And sputtering is generally emitted from a larger target surface area, thus being more uniform than vacuum coating. The thickness of the film layer, for plated parts with hook grooves, steps, etc., can reduce the difference in film thickness caused by the cathode effect to a negligible extent. Good Stability: Due to the inherent collimation single energy deposition of ion beam sputtering, the resulting coating is typically very uniform and very dense and adheres effectively to the substrate. This makes the films made by IBS very stable and durable. High Precision: The ion beam can be precisely focused and scanned; the target and substrate materials can be changed while maintaining the characteristics of the ion beam; the energy and current of the ion beam can be independently controlled. Since the energy, size and direction of the ion beam can be precisely controlled, and the sputtered atoms can directly deposit the film without collision, the ion beam sputtering is very suitable as a research method for thin film deposition. The main disadvantage of ion beam sputtering deposition is that the target area of the bombardment is too small, and the deposition rate is generally low. Moreover, ion beam sputter sputtering is also not suitable for depositing a large-area film of uniform thickness. Besides, the sputtering device is too complicated, and the equipment operating cost is high. Thank you for reading our article and we hope that it can help you better understand ion beam sputtering and its advantages and disadvantages. If you want to know more about sputter coating, we would like to advise you to visit Stanford Advanced Materials (SAM) for more information. Titanium (Ti) Sputtering Target Tungsten (W) Sputtering Target For more information, please visit Acetron. Tantalum (Ta) Sputtering Target Ion Beam Sputtering Advantages
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Popular Sputtering Target Used in Ion Beam Sputtering
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When comparing the four main types of physical vapor deposition (PVD) for thin films, it is important to know the benefits and drawbacks of each before you decide which method will best suit your application. PVD can occur through sputtering (magnetron or ion beam), which utilizes energetic ions colliding with a target to eject (or sputter) target material, or evaporation (thermal resistive and e-beam), which relies on heating a solid source material past its vaporization temperature. Previously, we compared which PVD method to use based on its benefits. In this post, we will take a deeper dive into the technical pros, cons and common uses of each type of PVD technique.
Resistive thermal evaporation applies thermal energy from a resistive heat source to a solid-state material in a vacuum chamber, which evaporates the source. The vapor condenses on a substrate, forming a thin film of the source material. It is one of the most common and simplest forms of physical vapor deposition.
E-beam evaporation, another thermal evaporation process, uses an electron beam to focus a large amount of energy onto the source material in a water-cooled copper hearth or crucible. This produces a very high temperature, which allows metals and dielectrics with high melting temperatures (such as gold and silicon dioxide) to be vaporized, and then deposited on a substrate to form a thin film. E-beam evaporation has a better deposition rate than sputtering or resistive thermal evaporation.
Magnetron sputtering is a plasma-based coating method where positively charged energetic ions from a magnetically confined plasma collide with a negatively charged target material, ejecting (or “sputtering”) atoms from the target that are then deposited onto a substrate. This process occurs in a closed magnetic field to trap electrons and boost efficiency—creating plasma at lower pressures which reduce gas incorporation in the film and energy losses in the sputtered atom. This method produces good film quality and the highest scalability of any PVD type.
Ion beam sputtering (IBS) is a process where an an ion beam is focused on a target and sputters material onto a substrate. The process is monoenergetic and highly collimated as ions possess equal energy and directionality. This thin film deposition process results in the highest quality, densest films.
Whether deciding between thermal resistive evaporation, e-beam evaporation, magnetron sputtering or ion beam sputtering, there are a few technology criteria selections to consider. While sputtering (particularly ion beam sputtering) produces better film quality and uniformity—which can translate to higher yield— it is also more costly and complex than evaporation. On the other hand, when you’re doing high volume production and high throughput is required, evaporation offers higher deposition rates, but remember that scalability is limited. This makes evaporation ideal for large batch processing, while magnetron sputtering is better for highly automated high-volume production, particularly for thin films with short deposition times.
Any thin film PVD process decision must weigh the right balance of system cost, yield, throughput and film quality. If you need help making the right selection, contact us – we’re happy to guide you through the process.
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