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Nanotechnology-Enabled Sensors

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4.4 Physical Vapor Deposition (PVD)<br />

4.4 Physical Vapor Deposition (PVD) 151<br />

PVD encompasses a group of vacuum techniques used for depositing<br />

thin films of different materials onto various substrates by physical means.<br />

In general, it can be categorized into the following groups:<br />

• Evaporation<br />

• Sputtering<br />

• Ion plating<br />

• Pulsed laser deposition (laser ablation)<br />

In a PVD process, the material to be deposited is placed in an energetic<br />

environment. This energetic environment evaporates the source material in<br />

the forms of particles such as molecules and ions. The escaping particles<br />

are directed towards the surface of a substrate. This substrate surface<br />

draws energy from these particles as they arrive, allowing them to form<br />

nucleation sites or thin layers. The whole system is kept in a vacuum<br />

chamber, which allows the particles to travel as freely as possible, arriving<br />

on the surface with a high energy promoting adhesion. The vacuum also<br />

encourages a thin film deposition free from the contaminants interferences.<br />

4.4.1 Evaporation<br />

Evaporation is one of the most common methods of thin film deposition.<br />

Although it is one of the oldest physical techniques, it is still widely<br />

used in the laboratory and in industry. In this process, a vapor is generated<br />

by evaporating or subliming a source material, which is subsequently condensed<br />

as a solid film on a substrate.<br />

A broad range of materials, with different reactivity and vapor pressures,<br />

can be used in this technique. In addition, a large diversity of source<br />

components such as resistance-heated filaments, electron beams, crucibles<br />

heated by conduction, radiation, RF-induction, arcs, exploding wires, and<br />

lasers can be employed. The following details of some of the most commonly<br />

used evaporation techniques.<br />

Thermal evaporation<br />

In thermal evaporation, the target material is melted and evaporated or<br />

sublimed using an electric resistance heater. In this process, the vapor<br />

pressure in the chamber (Fig. 4.12) is raised from the initially very low<br />

pressure to one that allows the material to be deposited on the substrate.

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