Uniform films deposited on convex surfaces by magnetron sputtering with a small target

A special design of the structure of magnetron sputtering equipment is proposed to facilitate the deposition of uniform films on non-planar surfaces with a small target. A guide rail is used to adjust the inclination of the target in combination with the rotation and vertical movement of the substrate holder to achieve step-by-step coating. A calculation model is proposed to simulate the effects of target-substrate distance, experiment condition coefficient, magnetron racetrack area, and staying time on the film deposition rate and thickness distribution. The relationship between the experimental parameters and theoretical tolerance values was also established in this design. Uniform films were deposited on a substrate having a diameter and height of 160 mm with a 2 in. Ti target. Measurement results show that the relative thickness distribution is less than ±3%, which agreed well with the calculation, demonstrating that the model is applicable for depositing uniform films on large convex surfaces. In addition, this calculation model provided a possible method to deposit uniform films on other surface sizes and types.