[labnetwork] Contamination control in a UHV co-sputtering system (AJA Orion)

[Gary Riggott]

Hi Filippo-

We have 2 Aja Orion systems here. One is for 4 inch wafers and wafer 
pieces, the other can accommodate 6" wafers and pieces.

We manage these tools differently.  The 4 inch tool has fewer 
restrictions, meaning that we allow resists for lift off processes and 
Kapton tape to secure samples.  In the other tool, we don't allow either 
of these.

1- I'm not sure what to say about cross-sputtering.  You can minimize 
this by using gun positions that are widely spaced, as opposed to being 
adjacent or near each other.  One thing to be aware of is the vapor 
pressure of the materials that you deposit.  For example, sulfur 
containing compounds tend to have high vapor pressures.  Once this is in 
your chamber, it may be hard to reach your original chamber base pressure.

For chamber and parts cleaning, we have a grit blaster that uses glass 
beads to remove deposits.

Lab users have much higher rates of success with lift off processes done 
in our evaporators, but many still use the sputter tools.

2- We allow a wide range of resists, like LOR 10A.  In the photo of our 
tool, you may notice an RGA.  We generally don't see any peaks beyond O2 
at 32 amu.  Photos may not transmit thru Labnetwork.

3- We are OK with Kapton in one of our tools.  The adhesives are 
silicone based adhesives, and I can't find outgassing data on these 
adhesives no matter whom I ask or where I look.

Hope this helps,
Gary

Gary Riggott
508-451-0905


On 8/10/2026 10:13 PM, #MARTINELLI FILIPPO# wrote:
> Dear labnetwork community,
>
> I have recently been put in charge of a UHV magnetron sputtering 
> system (AJA Orion) that I need to maintain and operate. The machine is 
> dedicated to co-sputtering of two metals in a nitrogen environment.
>
> The previous operator strongly advised me to be careful about what 
> goes into the chamber, as contamination can affect both the chamber 
> condition and the properties of the deposited material. However, she 
> was not very specific about what exactly causes contamination, and I 
> am unsure how restrictive I should be with the materials I load.
>
> I have a few questions I would appreciate your opinion on:
>
> 1. I read that cross-sputtering can occur between nearby substrates, 
> or between the substrate and the chamber. In your opinion, are there 
> materials that are particularly prone to cross-sputtering and hard to 
> remove with standard cleaning routines, and that should therefore be 
> avoided in the chamber altogether?
>
> 2. Following on from that, what is your take on lithography resists?
>
> 3. How about mounting materials such as Kapton tape or Crystalbond?
>
> I am quite new to this, so any suggestion or recommendation is 
> welcome. I look forward to hearing your opinions.
>
> Cheers,
> Filippo
>
> _______________________________________________
> labnetwork mailing list
> labnetwork at mtl.mit.edu
> https://mtl.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo.cgi/labnetwork
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://mtl.mit.edu/pipermail/labnetwork/attachments/20260811/6c42fca8/attachment.html>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: 20260811_105744.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 3086340 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <https://mtl.mit.edu/pipermail/labnetwork/attachments/20260811/6c42fca8/attachment.jpg>