Specific Process Knowledge/Thin film deposition/Deposition of AZO

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All content by DTU Nanolab staff.

AZO can be deposited by sputtering or atomic layer deposition (ALD). In sputter-deposition of AZO, we use an AZO target that may be RF-sputtered or reactively DC-sputtered. You can also co-deposit Al and ZnO. Note that in multipurpose sputter systems such as ours it may be difficult to obtain low enough contamination for high-quality AZO. Talk to Nanolab staff or your colleagues if you would like to locate a sputter system that can be dedicated to AZO-deposition.

In the chart below you can compare the different deposition equipment available here at Nanolab:

	Sputter deposition Sputter-system Metal-Oxide(PC1)	Sputter deposition (Sputter-System(Lesker))	Atomic layer deposition (ALD Picosun R200)
General description	Reactive DC sputtering pulsed DC sputtering RF sputtering Reactive HiPIMS (high-power impulse magnetron sputtering)	Reactive DC sputtering RF sputtering	Atomic layer deposition of AZO
Pre-clean	RF Ar clean	RF Ar clean
Layer thickness	few nm to ? hundreds of nm*	10Å to 5000Å*	0 to 1000 Å
Deposition rate	Depending on process parameters.	Depending on process parameters, e.g., 0.3 Å/s reactive DC-sputtering (see process log for details)	Depending on temperature
Batch size	Many smaller samples Up to 10x4" or 6" wafers (Cassette load in the LL)	Pieces or 1x4" wafer or 1x6" wafer	Pieces or 1x4" wafer or 1x6" wafer or 1x8" wafer
Allowed materials	Almost any that do not outgas and are not very toxic See cross-contamination sheet	Silicon Silicon oxide Silicon nitride Silicon (oxy)nitride Photoresist PMMA Mylar SU-8 Metals Carbon	Silicon Silicon oxide, silicon nitride Quartz/fused silica Al, Al₂O₃ Ti, TiO₂ Other metals (use dedicated carrier wafer) III-V materials (use dedicated carrier wafer) Polymers (depending on the melting point/deposition temperature, use carrier wafer)
Comment	Uses 3" target Substrate rotation Substrate RF bias option	Uses 2" target Substrate rotation Substrate RF Bias (optional)

* For thicknesses above 200 nm permission is required. Write to thinfilm@nanolab.dtu.dk.