High-energy laser-assisted magnetron sputtering for enhanced thin film deposition

PROJECT COST:

638 790 $

PRIMA CONTRIBUTION:

280 302 $

PROJECT DETAILS:

The development and production of plasma-enhanced thin-film deposition systems is a rapidly growing field. Depending on the application, film thickness ranges from 2 nm to several micrometers, with uniform deposition on wafers a few inches in diameter. Two physical deposition technologies are commonly used: sputtering and laser ablation. These techniques are partially complementary: sputtering provides highly uniform deposition over large areas but is time-consuming, while laser ablation offers excellent control of film composition but only on small surfaces.

In a recent collaboration between PLASMIONIQUE and INRS, it was demonstrated that a hybrid spray/ablation system offers promising opportunities for controlling film quality on large surfaces. The proposed process benefits significantly from a large laser irradiation area, which is achievable only with higher-power lasers. Using lasers from the INRS ALLS laboratory, this project aims to evaluate the feasibility of controlling the structure of certain films with this system and to optimize the process by adjusting the parameters of the laser-assisted deposition.

Once fully developed, the new hybrid deposition technique would enable Plasmionique to provide a novel tool for industrial-scale fabrication and development of advanced CMOS memory devices based on ferroelectric tunnel junctions, for which they hold a patent. 4PiCoat Technologies will also benefit from the research outcomes, particularly the optimized coating structures for biomedical applications.