Vacuum Physics and Technology

This book covers all aspects of physical vapor deposition (PVD) process technology from the characterizing and preparing the substrate material, through deposition processing and film characterization, to post-deposition processing. The emphasis of the book is on the aspects of the process flow that are critical to economical deposition of films that can meet the required performance specifications. The book covers subjects seldom treated in the literature: substrate characterization, adhesion, cleaning and the processing. The book also covers the widely discussed subjects of vacuum technology and the fundamentals of individual deposition processes. However, the author uniquely relates these topics to the practical issues that arise in PVD processing, such as contamination control and film growth effects, which are also rarely discussed in the literature. In bringing these subjects together in one book, the reader can understand the interrelationship between various aspects of the film deposition processing and the resulting film properties. The author draws upon his long experience with developing PVD processes and troubleshooting the processes in the manufacturing environment, to provide useful hints for not only avoiding problems, but also for solving problems when they arise. He uses actual experiences, called ""war stories"", to emphasize certain points. Special formatting of the text allows a reader who is already knowledgeable in the subject to scan through a section and find discussions that are of particular interest. The author has tried to make the subject index as useful as possible so that the reader can rapidly go to sections of particular interest. Extensive references allow the reader to pursue subjects in greater detail if desired. The book is intended to be both an introduction for those who are new to the field and a valuable resource to those already in the field. The discussion of transferring technology between R&D and manufacturing provided in Appendix 1, will be of special interest to the manager or engineer responsible for moving a PVD product and process from R&D into production. Appendix 2 has an extensive listing of periodical publications and professional societies that relate to PVD processing. The extensive Glossary of Terms and Acronyms provided in Appendix 3 will be of particular use to students and to those not fully conversant with the terminology of PVD processing or with the English language.

World-class scientists and engineers from more than six countries presented thirty-five papers on topics such as magnesium casting technology, metal matrix composites, mathematical modelling, solidification and reduction of light metals. Metal matrix composites are an important class of advanced industrial materials and significant advances have been achieved recently on the fabrication and characterization of their microstructures and mechanical properties.

This volume reports investigations which form part of a major series of theoretical and experimental studies being carried out in the Laboratory of Low-Temperature Plasma Optics at the Lebedev Physics Institute in Moscow. The papers give the results of systematic investigations of the chemical composition and of the electrical and optical properties of discharge plasmas, and also of populations of laser levels. Reliable and detailed information is given on the dissociation of carbon dioxide gas in discharges; the nature of the velocity distribution function, average energies, and densities of electrons; and populations and vibrational temperatures of molecules in cw CO and CO lasers. The material in this volume is intended for specialists in quantum electronics and low temperature plasma diagnostics.