A sputtering apparatus (SM) has a vacuum chamber in which is disposed a target. A plasma atmosphere is formed inside the vacuum chamber to thereby sputter the target. The sputtered particles splashed from the target are caused to get adhered to, and deposited on, a surface of a substrate disposed in the vacuum chamber, thereby forming a predetermined thin film thereon. At such a predetermined position inside the vacuum chamber as is subject to adhesion of the sputtered particles splashed from the target, there is disposed an adhesion body whose at least the surface of adhesion of the sputtered particles is made of a material equal in kind to that of the target. The adhesion body has connected thereto a bias power supply for applying a bias voltage having negative potential at the time of forming the plasma atmosphere.

High-performance optical-metasurface-based platform configured with the use of Tantalum Pentoxide to operate with extremely low levels of loss at frequencies of UV light and, in particular, in mid- and near-UV ranges and performing multiple optical-wavefront-shaping functions (among which there are high-numerical-aperture lensing, accelerating beam generation, and hologram projection). Process of fabrication of such metasurface producing near-zero levels of optical loss and employing the otherwise standard etching methodologies. Embodiments facilitate the development of low-form-factor, multifunctional ultraviolet nanophotonic platforms based on flat optical components and enabling diverse applications including lithography, imaging, spectroscopy, and quantum information processing.

The present disclosure provides a multifunction chamber having a multifunctional shutter disk. The shutter disk includes a lamp device, a DC/RF power device, and a gas line on one surface of the shutter disk. With this configuration, simplifying the chamber type is possible as the various specific, dedicated chambers such as a degas chamber, a pre-clean chamber, a CVD/PVD chamber are not required. By using the multifunctional shutter disk, the degassing function and the pre-cleaning function are provided within a single chamber. Accordingly, a separate degas chamber and a pre-clean chamber are no longer required and the overall transfer time between chambers is reduced or eliminated.

A method includes providing a substrate, where the substrate has a patterned substrate surface, wherein the patterned substrate surface comprises a first surface region and a second surface region. The method may also include directing a depositing species to the patterned substrate surface; and directing angled ions to the patterned substrate surface, wherein the depositing species forms a deposit on the first surface region and does not form a deposit on the second surface region.

Apparatus and methods for controlling plasma profiles during PVD deposition processes are disclosed. Some embodiments utilize EM coils placed above the target to control the plasma profile during deposition.

Sputtering printheads, additive manufacturing systems comprising the same, and methods for additive manufacturing are provided. Sputtering printheads of the present invention use a plasma to sputter a feedstock material which is directed towards a target. A printhead can include a heater to heat the feedstock to, or near, the material's melting point as it is being sputtered to increase the deposition rate. A convergent nozzle can also increase the deposition rate. Printheads of the present invention are readily reconfigurable such that the same printhead can be used to deposit different materials, such as metals and non-metals, in succession by replacing the feedstock material and making changes to a few settings. Additive manufacturing systems of the present invention can be operated at normal room temperatures and pressure.

A sputtering apparatus includes: a target disposed on a ceiling of a processing container capable of being depressurized; a gas inlet configured to supply a sputtering gas into the processing container; a first shield disposed around the target and configured to prevent deposition of a film around the target; and a second shield disposed in the processing container to cover an inner wall of the ceiling with a space from the ceiling, and including an opening in a portion corresponding to the target.

A sputtering system and a deposition method are provided. The sputtering system includes at least two sputtering chambers. Each of the at least two sputtering chambers includes a plurality of targets separated from each other and a plurality of target pedestals. Each of the plurality of targets is mounted on a corresponding target pedestal of the plurality of target pedestals, and a gap between two adjacent targets of the plurality of targets has a width sufficient to accommodate at least one of the plurality of targets.

The invention relates to a turbine part, such as a turbine blade or a distributor fin, for example, comprising a substrate made of a monocrystalline nickel superalloy, a metal sublayer covering the substrate, and a protective layer of metal oxide covering the sublayer, characterised in that the metal sublayer has one surface in contact with the protective layer and the surface has a mean roughness of less than 1 m.

In a plasma enhanced physical vapor deposition of a material onto workpiece, a metal target faces the workpiece across a target-to-workpiece gap less than a diameter of the workpiece. A carrier gas is introduced into the chamber and gas pressure in the chamber is maintained above a threshold pressure at which mean free path is less than 5% of the gap. RF plasma source power from a VHF generator is applied to the target to generate a capacitively coupled plasma at the target, the VHF generator having a frequency exceeding 30 MHz. The plasma is extended across the gap to the workpiece by providing through the workpiece a first VHF ground return path at the frequency of the VHF generator.