A physical vapor deposition (PVD) target for performing a PVD process is provided. The PVD target includes a backing plate and a target plate coupled to the backing plate. The target plate includes a sputtering source material and a dopant, with the proviso that the dopant is not impurities in the sputtering source material. The sputtering source material includes a diffusion barrier material.

The present invention discloses a high-temperature stable ceramic coating structure including a microalloy comprising the elements Al, V and N producible by a gas phase deposition process.

There is provided a film formation apparatus which forms a film on a substrate by sputtering. The apparatus comprises: a substrate holder configured to hold the substrate; and a plurality of cathodes configured to hold targets that emit sputtered particles, and connected to a power supply. At least one of the plurality of cathodes holds the targets of a plurality of types.

A coated member, an electronic device, and a method for manufacturing the coated member are provided. The coated member comprises a substrate, a color layer formed on a surface of the substrate, and an interference layer formed on a surface of the color layer. A coordinate L* corresponding to a color space presented by the color layer in a CIE LAB color system is within a preset range. When the coordinates of L* are within the preset range, the color of the coated member may be the same or may be different from the color of the color layer. Light passes through the interference layer and then enters the color layer. The color layer reflects and refracts the light. The reflected light enters the interference layer. The interference layer interferes with the reflected light, so that the coated member appears to be a target color.

A method of making a multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) electrode is a deposition-based method for growing MWCNTs on copper (Cu) foils to make binder-free electrodes for energy storage devices, such as those used in batteries and supercapacitors. A chromium layer is sputter coated on a copper foil substrate, and a nickel catalyst layer is sputter coated on the chromium layer, such that the chromium layer forms an electrically conductive barrier layer between the nickel catalyst layer and the copper foil substrate. The multi-walled carbon nanotubes are then formed on the copper foil substrate using plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition.

A method for forming a substrate with a multi-layered, flexible, and anti-scratch metal oxides protective coating being deposited onto the substrate is provided in the present invention, wherein the top most layer of the coating comprises Al.sub.2O.sub.3 or a mixture thereof such that the top most layer acts as an anti-scratching layer. The multi-layered, flexible and anti-scratch metal oxides protective coating also retains the flexibility of the underlying substrate.

A sputtering system is suitable for sputtering a surface to be sputtered having sections. Each section has a projection height. The sputtering system includes a supporting plate, a sputtering array, and a controller. The sputtering array is arranged on the supporting plate. The sputtering array includes sputtering units. Each section corresponds to at least one of the sputtering units. Each sputtering unit has a driving shaft and a target. The target faces the surface to be sputtered. The controller is electrically connected the driving shaft. The driving shaft drives the target to move relative to the surface to be sputtered. The controller controls a distance between each sputtering unit and the corresponding section of the sections in the direction of the projection height to satisfy a given condition.

A method of forming a piezoelectric thin film can be provided by heating a substrate in a process chamber to a temperature between about 350 degrees Centigrade and about 850 degrees Centigrade to provide a sputtering temperature of the substrate and sputtering a Group III element from a target in the process chamber onto the substrate at the sputtering temperature to provide the piezoelectric thin film including a nitride of the Group III element on the substrate to have a crystallinity of less than about 1.0 degree at Full Width Half Maximum (FWHM) to about 10 arcseconds at FWHM measured using X-ray diffraction (XRD).

A structure includes a substrate including a wafer or a portion thereof; and a piezoelectric bulk material layer comprising a first portion deposited onto the substrate and a second portion deposited onto the first portion, the second portion comprising an outer surface having a surface roughness (Ra) of 4.5 nm or less. Methods for depositing a piezoelectric bulk material layer include depositing a first portion of bulk layer material at a first incidence angle to achieve a predetermined c-axis tilt, and depositing a second portion of the bulk material layer onto the first portion at a second incidence angle that is smaller than the first incidence angle. The second portion has a second c-axis tilt that substantially aligns with the first c-axis tilt.

A magnetron sputtering system includes a substrate mounted within a vacuum chamber. A plurality of cathode assemblies includes a first set of cathode assemblies and a second set of cathode assemblies, and is configured for reactive sputtering. Each cathode assembly includes a target comprising sputterable material and has an at least partially exposed planar sputtering surface. A target support is configured to support the target in the vacuum chamber and rotate the target relative to the vacuum chamber about a target axis. A magnetic field source includes a magnet array. A cathode assemblies controller assembly is operative to actuate the first set of cathode assemblies without actuating the second set of cathode assemblies, and to actuate the second set of cathode assemblies without actuating the first set of cathode assemblies.