How to Prevent Sputter Target Broken?

For most of the time, people consider the purity, and maybe the shape, of the sputter targets when they are purchasing the coating materials. But one thing should not be ignored is the target bonding. Well, you think it unnecessary and costly? Then just think about what to do when your sputter target is broken.

Is Target Bonding Necessary? If your target breaks during use, you may use a copper plate to stick the target's pieces and then polish the target to minimize contact between the broken area and the plasma. However, it is still a remedial measure. Obviously, if the failure occurs frequently during the sputtering process, the quality of the film will be affected. In order to avoid target interruption, you need to provide target bonding services for the target. These brittle targets are necessary and not expensive compared to the loss of broken targets.

What is Target Bonding? Target bonding refers to soldering the target to the back target with solder. Technically, targets with a flat surface and can be metallized can be bonded to improve the heat dissipation and target utilization of the sputtering process.

What are The Target Bonding Materials? Metal bonding provides good thermal and electrical conductivity and are recommended for most sputtering applications. Indium is the preferred method for bonding sputtering targets due to its high thermal conductivity and is the high efficiency at drawing heat away from targets. Indium is also more malleable than alternative bonding solders. The main limitation of an indium bond is the melting temperature of an indium solder. Indium has a melting point of 156.6°C, and temperatures over 150°C will cause the bond to melt and fail.

Most materials can be indium bonded, however, there are a few exceptions. The elastomer is an alternative bonding method that touts a higher temperature capability over indium bonds. Elastomer bonds are recommended when customers are consistently melting indium bonds. Elastomer bonding is also suitable for low melting point target materials, temperature sensitive compounds and targets that have either low density or are especially fragile.

Information is provided by SAM Sputter Targets.