New sputter deposition capabilities for growth of metal-oxide multilayers

许多当前的技术是基于对显示出新颖的电、磁、电、热或光学特性的材料的创新使用。材料的性质可以通过它们的几何形状(低维薄膜)和结构(多层膜)进行很大程度的控制。由于对称性的破坏，材料界面(界面现象)可能会产生全新的效应，从而产生整体上不存在的新性质。因此，高质量薄膜的沉积对于理解新材料/界面的基本性质以及优化其在器件应用中的行为都至关重要。溅射沉积是沉积金属和介质薄膜的最重要的制备技术之一，也是我们实验室研究的主要金属薄膜沉积技术。不幸的是，我们的溅射系统过去11年来一直支持我们的研究，但由于电气和机械故障，目前无法沉积薄膜。在这项提案中，我们要求对溅射系统进行升级，该系统将创建一种最先进的工具，用于在第一室中沉积最多八个来源的金属材料，以及在第二室中从最多三个来源沉积氧化物和氮化物。升级将同时作为对系统中故障组件的修复。此外，他们还将扩大我们在金属/氧化物/氮化物结构方面的研究，使我们成为加拿大(据我们所知)研究和制造磁性固态存储设备的唯一团队。

Many current technologies are based on the innovative use of materials that display novel electronic, magnetic, electrical, thermal, or optical properties. Material properties can be vastly manipulated by their geometry (low dimensional, thin-films) and structure (multilayers). Entirely new effects can exist at material interfaces (interface phenomena) as a result of their symmetry-breaking, giving rise to new properties not present in the bulk. Therefore, the deposition of high-quality films is vital for both understanding the fundamental properties of new materials/interfaces, and for optimizing their behaviour for device applications. Sputter deposition is arguably one of the most important fabrication techniques for deposition of metal and dielectric films and it has been the primary technique for deposition of metal films studied in our labs. Unfortunately, our sputter system, which has supported our research for the last eleven years, is currently not capable of depositing films due to electrical and mechanical failures. In this proposal, we request upgrades of the sputter system which will create a state-of-the-art tool for deposition of metal materials from up to eight sources in the first chamber and for deposition of oxides and nitrides from up to three sources in the second chamber. The upgrades will simultaneously serve as repairs for the failing components in the system. Additionally, they will expand our research in the direction of metal/oxide/nitride structures making us the only group in Canada (to the best of our knowledge) researching and manufacturing magnetic solid-state memory devices.