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Advances in Multi-Target Physical Vapor Deposition Techniques
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Advances in Multi-Target Physical Vapor Deposition Techniques

A special issue of Coatings (ISSN 2079-6412). This special issue belongs to the section "Thin Films".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 July 2021) | Viewed by 17636

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Joe Sakai

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Institut Català de Nanociència I Nanotecnologia (ICN2), UAB Campus, ICN2 Building, 08193 Bellaterra, Spain
Interests: oxide thin films (especially vanadium oxides); pulsed laser deposition; insulator-metal phase transition; functionally graded materials; nanocomposites via self-assembly
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Multitarget (MT) deposition schemes for realizing atomic-level mixture of plural materials pave the way to a wider range of possibilities of physical vapor deposition (PVD) techniques, including pulsed laser deposition (PLD), DC/RF sputtering, pulsed electron beam deposition (PED), cathodic arc deposition, and so on. MT PVD has proven to be a promising approach, not only for creating combinatorial libraries that drastically enhance efficiency in material search but also for preparing thin films containing high vapor–pressure elements which are generally difficult to grow with a single target.

Two targets, or sometimes more, are used as MT, allowing one to control the film composition by changing the intensity ratio among energy fluxes onto different targets. In MT PLD, a popular method is that where one laser beam irradiates multiple targets alternatively, based on solid-phase reaction on the substrate. Meanwhile, some trials have been made on simultaneous laser irradiation to multiple targets, in which the mixing is supposed to occur in the gas phase. Even if the deposition equipment is designed to hold only a single target, mixing of multiple materials is possible by adopting mosaic targets, which can be categorized into MT deposition techniques.

For this Special Issue, aiming at a further spread of MT PVD schemes, we are pleased to invite the thin-film community to submit original experimental research articles and review articles involving such techniques. Topics of interest include but are not limited to:

  • Growth of single films with composition controlled with MT PVD;
  • Composition-graded materials and combinatorial libraries prepared with MT PVD;
  • Self-assembled nanocomposites prepared with MT PVD;
  • Comparison of films grown with MT and single-target PVD;
  • Comparison of films grown with alternative and simultaneous MT PVD;
  • Novel mechanisms and strategies for high-quality and/or cost-effective MT PVD.

Dr. Joe Sakai
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Coatings is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

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Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

12 pages, 2362 KiB  
Article
Tunability Investigation in the BaTiO3-CaTiO3-BaZrO3 Phase Diagram Using a Refined Combinatorial Thin Film Approach
by Christophe Daumont, Quentin Simon, Sandrine Payan, Pascal Gardes, Patrick Poveda, Mario Maglione, Beatrice Negulescu, Nazir Jaber and Jerome Wolfman
Coatings 2021, 11(9), 1082; https://doi.org/10.3390/coatings11091082 - 7 Sep 2021
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2608
Abstract
Tunable ferroelectric capacitors, which exhibit a decrease in the dielectric permittivity under an electric field, are widely used in electronics for RF tunable applications. Current devices use barium strontium titanate (BST) as the tunable dielectric, but new applications call for tunable materials with [...] Read more.
Tunable ferroelectric capacitors, which exhibit a decrease in the dielectric permittivity under an electric field, are widely used in electronics for RF tunable applications. Current devices use barium strontium titanate (BST) as the tunable dielectric, but new applications call for tunable materials with specific performance improvements. It is then of crucial importance to dispose of a large panel of electrically characterized materials to identify the most suited compound for a given set of device specifications. Here, we report on the dielectric tuning properties of Ba1−xCaxTi1−yZryO3 (BCTZ) thin films libraries (0 ≤ x ≤ 30% and 0 ≤ y ≤ 28.5%) synthesized by combinatorial pulsed laser deposition (CPLD). An original CPLD approach allowing reliable and statistical ternary phase diagrams exploration is reported. The effects of Ca and Zr content on tunability, breakdown voltage and dielectric losses are explicated and shown to be beneficial up to a certain amount. Compounds close to (Ba0.84Ca0.16)(Ti0.8Zr0.2)O3 exhibit the highest figures of merit, while a zone with compositions around (Ba0.91Ca0.09)(Ti0.81Zr0.19)O3 show the best compromise between tuning ratio and figure of merit. These results highlight the potential of BCTZ thin films for electrically tunable applications. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Multi-Target Physical Vapor Deposition Techniques)
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11 pages, 4545 KiB  
Article
Pulsed Laser Deposition of Epitaxial Non-Doped PbTiO3 Thin Films from PbO–TiO2 Mosaic Targets
by Joe Sakai, José Manuel Caicedo Roque, Pablo Vales-Castro, Jessica Padilla-Pantoja, Guillaume Sauthier and José Santiso
Coatings 2021, 11(6), 662; https://doi.org/10.3390/coatings11060662 - 31 May 2021
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2999
Abstract
PbTiO3 (PTO) suffers from difficulty in preparing high-density robust bulk ceramics, which in turn has been a bottleneck in thin films growth with physical vapor deposition (PVD) methods. In the present work, we prepared non-doped PTO thin films by a pulsed laser [...] Read more.
PbTiO3 (PTO) suffers from difficulty in preparing high-density robust bulk ceramics, which in turn has been a bottleneck in thin films growth with physical vapor deposition (PVD) methods. In the present work, we prepared non-doped PTO thin films by a pulsed laser deposition (PLD) method with either a single PTO target or a mosaic target consisting of PbO and TiO2 pie-shaped pieces. On the PTO single target, laser irradiation caused selective ablation of Pb, resulting in Ti-rich cone-shaped pillar structure on the surface, whereas the irradiated surface of PbO and TiO2 pieces was smoother. Epitaxial PTO films deposited on SrTiO3 (001) substrates from the pie-chart targets with PbO:TiO2 areal ratio from 3:5 to 5:3 resulted in composition, crystallinity, flatness, and ferroelectric properties almost independent of the areal ratio. The averaged composition of each film was close to stoichiometric, suggesting a compositional self-control mechanism. For growing epitaxial and high-quality non-doped PTO films, a PbO–TiO2 pie-chart target is advantageous in easiness of handling and stable surface structure. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Multi-Target Physical Vapor Deposition Techniques)
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12 pages, 3483 KiB  
Article
Magnetron Sputtering of Nanolaminated Cr2AlB2
by Pedro Berastegui, Lars Riekehr and Ulf Jansson
Coatings 2020, 10(8), 735; https://doi.org/10.3390/coatings10080735 - 27 Jul 2020
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2918
Abstract
A ternary Cr2AlB2 phase was deposited as a film using magnetron sputtering. Its anisotropic structure displays both structural and chemical similarities with the nanolaminated MAX phases (Mn+1AXn (n = 1–3) where M usually is an early transition [...] Read more.
A ternary Cr2AlB2 phase was deposited as a film using magnetron sputtering. Its anisotropic structure displays both structural and chemical similarities with the nanolaminated MAX phases (Mn+1AXn (n = 1–3) where M usually is an early transition metal, A is typically an element in group 13–14 and X is C or N), and can be described as CrB slabs separated by layers of Al. Combinatorial sputtering was used to optimise the sputtering process parameters for films with the Cr2AlB2 composition. The influences of substrate, temperature and composition were studied using X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and electron microscopy. Films deposited at room temperature were X-ray amorphous but crystalline films could be deposited on MgO substrates at 680 °C using a composite Al-B, Cr and Al targets. X-ray diffraction analyses showed that the phase composition and texture of the films was strongly dependent on the chemical composition. Films with several phases or with a single Cr2AlB2 phase could be deposited, but an additional Al target was required to compensate for a loss of Al at the high deposition temperatures used in this study. The microstructure evolution during film growth was strongly dependent on composition, with a change in texture in Al-rich films from a preferred [010] orientation to a [100]/[001] orientation. A model based on Al desorption from the surface of the growing grains is proposed to explain the texture variations. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Multi-Target Physical Vapor Deposition Techniques)
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12 pages, 2884 KiB  
Article
Control of Lateral Composition Distribution in Graded Films of Soluble Solid Systems A1−xBx by Partitioned Dual-Beam Pulsed Laser Deposition
by Joe Sakai, José Manuel Caicedo Roque, Pablo Vales-Castro, Jessica Padilla-Pantoja, Guillaume Sauthier, Gustau Catalan and José Santiso
Coatings 2020, 10(6), 540; https://doi.org/10.3390/coatings10060540 - 1 Jun 2020
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2852
Abstract
Lateral compositionally-graded thin films are powerful media for the observation of phase boundaries as well as for high-throughput materials exploration. We herein propose a method to prepare epitaxial lateral compositionally-graded films using a dual-beam pulsed laser deposition (PLD) method with two targets separated [...] Read more.
Lateral compositionally-graded thin films are powerful media for the observation of phase boundaries as well as for high-throughput materials exploration. We herein propose a method to prepare epitaxial lateral compositionally-graded films using a dual-beam pulsed laser deposition (PLD) method with two targets separated by a partition. Tuning the ambient pressure and the partition—substrate gap makes it possible to control of the gradient length of the deposits at the small sizes (≤ 10 mm) suitable for commercial oxide single crystal substrates. A simple Monte Carlo simulation qualitatively reproduced the characteristic features of the lateral thickness distribution. To demonstrate this method, we prepared (1−x)PbTiO3—xPbZrO3 and (1−x)LaMnO3—xLa0.6Sr0.4MnO3 films with lateral composition gradient widths of 10 and 1 mm, respectively, with the partitioned dual PLD. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Multi-Target Physical Vapor Deposition Techniques)
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12 pages, 4579 KiB  
Article
Influence of Sputtering Power of ZrB2 Target on Structure and Properties of Nanocomposite Zr-B-O Films
by Yang Xu, Dong Mao, Lei Dong, Mengli Zhao, Jie Wu and Dejun Li
Coatings 2019, 9(10), 611; https://doi.org/10.3390/coatings9100611 - 25 Sep 2019
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 3133
Abstract
The nanocomposite Zr-B-O films based on ZrB2 and ZrO2 are successfully deposited on Si (100) and stainless-steel substrates via a multi-target magnetron co-sputtering system. The influence of the sputtering power of ZrB2 target on sample structure and performance was analyzed [...] Read more.
The nanocomposite Zr-B-O films based on ZrB2 and ZrO2 are successfully deposited on Si (100) and stainless-steel substrates via a multi-target magnetron co-sputtering system. The influence of the sputtering power of ZrB2 target on sample structure and performance was analyzed by scanning electron microscope (SEM), transmission electron microscope (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and X-ray photoelectron spectrometer (XPS). Nano scratch tests were conducted to measure the films’ mechanical properties. Their oxidation resistance in an aerobic environment was tested by high-temperature oxidation in a muffle furnace. Corrosion behaviors of the Zr-B-O films were evaluated by potentiodynamic polarization and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. It shows that the interior of the composite films has a high degree of non-crystallization. The maximum hardness (26.76 GPa) and corresponding elastic modulus (268.05 Gpa) of the film were obtained at the sputtering power of 120 W. The hardest film also shows the better oxidation resistance with a mass change of around 0.1% before and after oxidation under 1000 °C for 1 h. However, the corrosion resistance of Zr-B-O nanocomposite films is negatively correlated with the power of ZrB2, which is related to the microstructure of the composite film. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Multi-Target Physical Vapor Deposition Techniques)
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11 pages, 20434 KiB  
Article
Optimization of the Oxidation Behavior and Mechanical Properties by Designing the TiB2/ZrO2 Multilayers
by Dong Mao, Yang Xu, Lei Dong, Jie Wu, Mengli Zhao and Dejun Li
Coatings 2019, 9(10), 600; https://doi.org/10.3390/coatings9100600 - 23 Sep 2019
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2152
Abstract
TiB2/ZrO2 multilayers with different modulation ratios (at a fixed modulation period of 50 nm) ranging from 2:1 to 6:1 were deposited by magnetron sputtering. The oxidation behavior of the as-deposited multilayers was investigated at 600 °C in air. The microstructures, [...] Read more.
TiB2/ZrO2 multilayers with different modulation ratios (at a fixed modulation period of 50 nm) ranging from 2:1 to 6:1 were deposited by magnetron sputtering. The oxidation behavior of the as-deposited multilayers was investigated at 600 °C in air. The microstructures, mechanical properties, and oxidation resistance of the multilayers were analyzed and compared. The results indicate that discontinuous oxidation retarded the inward diffusion of oxygen and the outward diffusion of metallic components. The formation of dense (Ti, B)-oxide scale and internally inserted ZrO2 layers in the TiB2/ZrO2 multilayers enhanced the oxidation resistance. Moreover, the oxidation resistance of the multilayers increased as modulation ratio decreased. The hardness and elastic modulus of the TiB2/ZrO2 multilayers were maximized (23.9 and 303.1 GPa, respectively) at the modulation ratio of 6:1. After annealing, the formation of thick ZrO2 layers did not lead to sustained increases in hardness. The maximum hardness and elastic modulus were obtained at the critical modulation ratio of 4:1, and good adhesion strength with the substrate was also observed. The oxidation mechanism and experimental results demonstrate that controlling the modulation ratio of multilayers can produce synergetic enhancements in the oxidation resistance and mechanical properties of multilayers after high-temperature oxidation. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Multi-Target Physical Vapor Deposition Techniques)
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