Magnetron Co-Sputtering System

• Subject Area: Condensed Matter Physics
• Term: Funded in 2021
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 468939474

Magnetron sputtering is a common method for synthesizing thin film systems for spintronics research, development and application. A co-sputtering system allows to synthesize layer systems and alloys from different elements in order to quickly transfer ideas from materials research into the application-oriented development of spintronic systems. The work of the applicant groups is in the area of intermetallic materials for spintronics, antiferromagnetic spintronics, spin-orbit torques, and magnetic as well as oxide nonvolatile memory elements. In the project applied for here, a modern, semi-automated magnetron co-sputtering facility with nine sources is to be acquired. Other requirements include deposition in ultra-high vacuum, reactive sputtering with nitrogen and oxygen, deposition at temperatures up to 700°C, and a flexible configuration of working distances and deposition angles between sources and substrate holder. The system will be used predominantly by the New Materials Electronics group at the Department of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology and will be the centerpiece of the group's experimental infrastructure. The integration with the cluster system of Pulsed Laser Deposition, Molecular Beam Epitaxy and Ion Beam Etching of the Thin Films group at the Department of Materials and Earth Sciences will significantly extend the experimental capabilities of both groups and strengthen the collaboration between the departments.

• DFG Programme: Major Research Instrumentation
• Major Instrumentation: Magnetron Co-Sputtering System
• Instrumentation Group: 8330 Vakuumbedampfungsanlagen und -präparieranlagen für Elektronenmikroskopie
• Applicant Institution: Technische Universität Darmstadt
• Leader: Professor Dr. Markus Meinert