Thin Film Sputtering

Custom Thin Film Metal Sputtering

Custom thin film metallization consists of sputtering metal coatings with patterns made to customer specifications. Micralyne routinely deposits a wide variety of films on many different substrate materials (silicon, glass, alumina etc.). Engineers use tri-target sputtering systems to provide consistent film quality and access to custom adhesion, barrier and conductive layers.

The target materials available at Micralyne include gold, platinum, silver, aluminum (and alloys), titanium, tungsten (and alloys), tantalum, chromium, and nickel alloys to name a few. Depending on the material selected, thin film sputtered layers can range from 5 nanometers for adhesion layers to microns for conduction layers. Patterning is done to match customer specifications using wet chemical etch or liftoff techniques.

Sputtering Experience

Micralyne’s experienced engineering staff (over 25 years) can provide assistance in choosing substrates and sputtering metallization stacks at the inception of a project. If difficulties are encountered, the engineering team will also help troubleshoot a customer’s process.

Thin Film Quality

Micralyne’s quality assurance program is registered with ISO 9001:2000 standards and will meet most existing military and aerospace requirements.

Sputtering Specifications

Substrates Coated
Silicon, SOI, Glass, Quartz, Sapphire, Diamond, AlN, Alumina, Other

Conductive Layers
Gold (Au), Copper (Cu), Aluminum (Al)

Barrier Layers
Titanium/Tungsten (TiW), Platinum (Pt), Molybdenum (Mo), Nickel Copper (NiCu), Other

Sputtering Adhesion Layers
Chromium (Cr), Titanium (Ti), Titanium/Tungsten (TiW), Other

Solder Layers
Gold Tin (AuSn) - electroplated

Resistive Layers
Tantalum Nitride (TaN)

Metallization Design Guidelines

Micralyne can pattern on both the top and bottom sides of a substrate. Patterning can be done with a shadow mask, a wet etch, or a liftoff procedure depending on the specific metal stack and design requirements.

Line resolution and dimensional tolerance varies widely depending on the sputtered metal thickness, the metal stack and the patterning procedure used.



Please Contact Us for more information on Thin Film Sputtering and metallization systems specific to your design.

To learn more about thin film sputtering, read a Short Article on Sputtering written by our Chief Scientist.