original contributed articles - svc.orgrecording media; this was a big subject at svc meetings 12...

Summer 2005www.svc.org

Summer 2005www.svc.org

NewsNews

A P u b l i c a t i o n f o r t h e V a c u u m C o a t i n g I n d u s t r yA P u b l i c a t i o n f o r t h e V a c u u m C o a t i n g I n d u s t r y

Organic Materialsand Processes for theFabrication ofElectronic Devices2005 TechCon Keynote Presentation

Organic Materialsand Processes for theFabrication ofElectronic Devices2005 TechCon Keynote Presentation

Reports from the2005 TechCon

in Denver

Reports from the2005 TechCon

in Denver

OriginalContributedArticles:Coherence in Optical Coatings

Thermoelectric Materials and ApplicationsReactive Sputtering: Flow or Partial Pressure Control,

Which One to Use?

OriginalContributedArticles:Coherence in Optical Coatings

Thermoelectric Materials and ApplicationsReactive Sputtering: Flow or Partial Pressure Control,

Which One to Use?

2005 Summer News Bulletin 3

Inside This Issue

A collage shows various ion and plasma sources designed by Kaufman & Robinson, Inc.Different gases produce their own characteristic color of high density plasmas andneutralized ion beams. By controlling the gases and operating parameters, the ionbeam can modify thin film properties, deposit coatings, and clean and activatesubstrate surfaces.

On the Cover

Letter from the President . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Editorial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4SVC - Quo Vadis? by Donald M. Mattox

SVC TechCon Reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5Highlights include:• Program Committee Chair Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5• Emerging Technologies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6• “Heuréka!” Post-Deadline Recent Developments Session . . . . . . . . . . . . 6• Innovators Showcase. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6• Joint Session on Processes, Materials, and Systems for Flexible

Electronics and Optics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8• Plasma Processing Sessions Perspective . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 • Large Area Coating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10• Mr. Wizard Presentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10• Optical Coating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12• TechCon Education Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12• Plasma Processing of Webs: Session Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14• Process Control & Instrumentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14• SVC History Committee News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15• Workshop on the “Past, Present, and Future of Specialty

Vacuum Roll Coating” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16• Smart Materials Symposium . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16• Tribological & Decorative Coating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17• SVC Honors Excellence and Contribution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18• Vacuum Web Coating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19• 2005 SVC TechCon Exhibit in Denver. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

From the 2005 SVC Technical ConferenceOrganic Materials and Processes for the Fabrication of Electronic Devices

Keynote presentation at the 48th SVC TechCon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20by Zhenan Bao, Colin Reese, Mark Roberts, and Mang Mang LingDepartment of Chemical Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA

Plasma Surface Engineering for Nanotechnology ApplicationsDonald M. Mattox Tutorial presented at the 48th SVC TechCon . . . . . . . . . . 32by Ralf Fellenberg, VDI Technologiezentrum GmbH, Düsseldorf, Germany

A Technique for Measuring the Thin Film Thickness of Ultrathin MetallicThin Films, 4-20 nm, using Atomic Force Microscopy

Presented in the Poster Session at the 48th SVC TechCon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34by Guillermo Acosta, David D. Allred, and Robert C. DavisBrigham Young University, Provo, UT

Contributed Original ArticlesCoherence in Optical Coatings

by Angus Macleod, Thin Film Center, Inc., Tucson, AZ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Thermoelectric Materials and Applicationsby Peter Martin, Battelle Pacific Northwest Laboratory, Richland, WA . . . . . . . 30

Reactive Sputtering: Flow or Partial Pressure Control, Which One to Use?by William D. Sproul, Reactive Sputtering Consulting, LLC, Fort Collins, CO . . . 40

Sample Education Guide. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27Surface and Film Characterization: Anodization of Aluminum Filmsby Donald M. Mattox, SVC Technical Director

Society and Industry News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42Corporate Sponsor News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44Corporate Sponsor Profile. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44Coating 2005 Technical Conference Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48Advertiser’s Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

Editorial: SVC - Quo Vadis?

SVC, where are you going? For many years the Society of Vacuum Coatershas steadily become recognized throughout the world as the place topresent work on the technologies of vacuum coating. The SVC Short Course,Exhibit, and Publications Programs have progressed greatly. Attendance atthe 2005 TechCon was truly international, with attendees from Europe andAsia. Recently, SVC expanded the Bulletin to give it more technologycontent.

Technology is pulling SVC in many directions. The technologies thathave been used for many years now have many applications undreamed ofnot long ago. New applications and industrial processes such as smartmaterials, plasma deposition, plasma treatment of surfaces, nanotechnology,photonics, and many other applications need the value added and enablingprocesses provided by the technologies represented by SVC activities. Inaddition, the world of vacuum-based technologies has logically expanded toatmospheric pressure processing, as seen in the TechCon presentations onatmospheric plasmas for surface treatment.

Where do we want to go? SVC cannot rest on past performance.Processes become mature and fade from view. An example is coating forrecording media; this was a big subject at SVC meetings 12 years ago.Simple decorative coating also is not the major subject of interest it oncewas. SVC has followed the industry’s evolution; the tribological coating TACreplaced the decorative and functional coating TAC, which replaced thedecorative coating TAC. I think that we want to go in a direction wherethere is still a great deal of interest and overlap between the technical areasof interest. My recommendation is to stay focused! Smart materials, display

technologies, nanostructures, plasma-surface modification, plasma sources,plasma chemistry, coatings on particulates, surfaces for biotechnology,catalytic surfaces, etc., provide many such areas. One of the strengths of theSVC had been in the industrialization of vacuum-based processes, many on avery large scale at an acceptable unit cost. How can the SVC expand theirexhibitor base?

Quo Vadis? SVC is cooperating with other conferences to make theirpresence known. These meetings have been held mostly in Europe. Whatshould we do in Asia? Perhaps we can make more use of the Internet.

SVC has been a forum for presenting work that would never reach apeer-reviewed publication. In many cases it is because the people involvedin doing the work are “trying to make a buck” rather than a reputation.There are suggestions that SVC should try to attract more academics byhaving a peer-reviewed publication. Does that establish a void betweenpeople with differing goals?

Quo Vadis? The answer lies, to a great extent, with the views ofmembers and those exposed to the SVC publications and web site. Theperson to contact with Your Views is Peter Martin, SVC Vice-President, andChair of the Long Range Planning Committee. Peter can be reached [email protected].

Donald M. Mattox is the SVC Bulletin Editor and Technical Director.Contact him at [email protected] with your views on the TechCon, theBulletin, or any other issue.

Donald M. Mattox is the SVC Bulletin Editor and Technical Director.

4 2005 Summer News Bulletin

Letter from the President

What a GREAT Technical Conference(TechCon) we had at the Adam’s MarkHotel in Denver, CO! If you attended, youalready know this, and our thanks for yourpositive comments. If you did not attend,mark your calendar now for next year. The49th Society of Vacuum Coaters TechCon isApril 22–27, 2006, at the Marriott WardmanPark Hotel in Washington, D.C. Plan someextra time to visit the wonderful sights whileyou are there.

Of course the great TechCon in Denver wasthe result of much hard work by many people inour organization. I want to particularly creditand thank our management team lead byVivienne and Don Mattox, the Technical ProgramCommittee Chaired by Ric Shimshock andAssistant Chair Ludvik Martinu, and all theChairs and members of the Technical AdvisoryCommittees (TACs).

Key activities started Sunday evening, withour annual business meeting including theAwards Ceremony. We honored the 2005 SVCNathaniel Sugerman Award winner, J.A. (George)Dobrowolski. George has contributed greatly tothe SVC and to our industry in optical coatingtechnology. Also honored were our 2005 SVCMentors, Carlo Misiano, Ludvik Martinu, andRainer Ludwig for their contributions to vacuum

coating technology and the SVC. At the PlenaryAddress, Salil Pradham of Hewlett PackardLaboratories spoke enthusiastically on “RFIDTechnology, Promise and Challenges.” Good food,good drink, and great networking at the WelcomeReception followed the Plenary Address.

The TechCon opened Monday morning withthe Keynote Presentation on “Organic Materialsand Processes for the Fabrication of ElectronicDevices” by Zhenan Bao of Stanford University.She discussed the status and significant advancesbeing made in organic flexible electronics. Theoutstanding technical sessions followed this veryinteresting Keynote Presentation. OtherTechCon program highlights included, to namejust a few, the Networking Breakfasts, theHeuréka! Sessions for post-deadline papers, andthe Donald M. Mattox Tutorials. As always, awide variety of excellent short courses wereoffered, taught by industry and academic expertsin the various fields. The TechCon also featuredan outstanding array of exhibitors in our industry.These are just a sampling of the activities at the2005 TechCon. For a more detailed review, readthe articles in this issue by the ProgramCommittee Chair and the TAC Chairs.

Looking forward, members of the SVC Boardof Directors will attend the Summer businessmeeting on June 25th and 26th at the MarriottWardman Park hotel in Washington, D.C., the site

of the 49th Society of Vacuum Coaters (SVC)TechCon in 2006. On Saturday, (June 25th) wewill hold our regular business meeting. Thismeeting also will include a training session on“Best Practices” for Boards to focus the newBoard on strategic SVC topics.

By necessity, the Board was focused onoperational issues in 2004. In 2005, we want toidentify and focus on the top strategic issues.The Long-Range Planning Committee, Chaired bySVC Vice President, Peter Martin, has beenworking to identify these issues. On Sunday(June 26th), the Board, using their new trainingon “Best Practices” methodology, will prioritizeand consider strategic topics from the Long-Range Planning Committee. Other issues andsuggestions will likely be added during theBoard’s discussions. The objective is to focus theBoard’s efforts on the really important issues forthe Society’s future. Please help us to besuccessful in these tasks by providing youropinions and feedback on issues that areimportant to you. You may contact any memberof the Board (see the SVC Web Site for contactinformation), Vivienne Mattox ([email protected]),or me ([email protected]). We welcome yourideas, your help, and your support.

Clark Bright, 3M Company ([email protected]) isthe SVC President.


SVC TechCon Reports

Program Committee ChairReport

By all measures the Denver SVC TechCon was agreat success this year. We are very happy withthis outcome. We have received many commentsfrom exhibitors and attendees that this TechConranked right up there as one of the best SVCevents ever convened. While the Rocky Mountainweather was unpredictable (during the week ofthe TechCon, the weather still seemed to bedeciding whether it should be winter or spring,and yes we had snow) the climate inside theAdams Mark at the TechCon was definitely warmand upbeat. The turnout for the TechCon waslarge, and the mood was generally positive. Inaddition, the number of job postings was up overprevious years. With 1,355 attendees, SVC filledthe many large halls and the various meetingrooms of the convention center.

If your schedule didn’t allow for a trip toDenver for the TechCon this spring, you mightwant to check with someone who was able toattend the TechCon for a quick report or read thesession summaries included in this Bulletin. Youmight also consider purchasing the CD ROM ofthe Proceedings of the 48th Annual SVC TechConfrom the SVC office when it becomes availablethis fall.

We have also arranged to have two of theTechCon speakers submit a write-up of theirpresentation topics for this Bulletin. Please seethe article by our Keynote Speaker, ProfessorZhenan Bao, on organic materials or Dr. RalfFellenberg’s article covering his lunchtimetutorial topic on plasma processing andnanotechnology.

Our Plenary Speaker, Salil Pradhan, ChiefTechnology Officer for the RFID Center ofExcellence at Hewlett Packard (HP) Laboratoriesin Palo Alto, CA, started things off with hisoverview of RFID technology and some of thepotential applications that we as suppliers orconsumers might encounter in the coming years.This technology appears to have great potentialfor many applications, but also has challengesarising from cost pressures, readouts scenarios,and batteries for active systems.

There were a number of new offerings in theExhibit this year, and we had a number of firsttime exhibitors. We hope to see them back nextyear. The poster session continued to grow inboth quality and number. Attendance at themany Education Courses was up, and there was astrong showing as usual at the LunchtimeTutorials, the Technology Forum/NetworkingBreakfasts and the “Meet the Experts” Corner.

We had some popular new offerings: DonMcClure presented his “Mr. Wizard” demonstra-tion on vacuum technologies, held on Sundayafternoon before the Plenary SpeakerPresentation. It should be noted that even somespouses were in the audience. Based on thisresponse, we hope that Don will return with thispresentation again next year!

An Evening Session was held on the topic ofthe future of specialty roll coaters, coordinatedby John Fenn, Jr. and Roger Phillips. Thissession presented an expert panel’s overview ofthe industry and evoked a lively discussion fromthe audience.

The TechCon and Smart MaterialsSymposium was convened over the course of fourdays, and the challenge for many attendees wasto find time to take advantage of all the manyofferings. The Smart Materials Symposium,organized jointly with Elsevier and the SVC,continued to be well attended. I refer you to thewrite-ups that follow in this Bulletin foroverviews of presentations in the Symposium.

If there were things at the SVC TechConthat you thought worked better than others orthere were things that we missed, please forwardyour input to the SVC. SVC is a nonprofit organi-zation with a goal to provide timely, educational

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value to members. Let us know what we can dobetter! You may be asked to complete a survey bye-mail in the coming months; please take thetime to provide your input. We promise to readall suggestions! Also consider sharing work withothers in the SVC community. It is not too earlyto start thinking about submitting an abstractand making a presentation at the next TechCon.Abstracts are due September 30, 2005.

We look forward to seeing you among thecherry blossoms in Washington, D.C., in 2006! Weexpect another successful gathering, and the SVCProgram Team is already hard at work organizingthe events for the 2006.

Ric Shimshock, MLD Technologies LLC([email protected]), and Ludvik Martinu,École Polytechnique, Montreal, Canada,([email protected]), were the 2005 SVC ProgramChairs.

Emerging Technologies

The Monday afternoon Emerging Technologiesprogram opened with the invited talk by David A.Glocker from Isoflux Incorporated on nanometer-scale TiN particles dispersed in a Mo matrix.Coatings were deposited both by co-sputteringand sputtering from composite targets using acylindrical magnetron sputtering system. ViktorKozlov of Sidrabe, Inc., Latvia, reported onmultilayer deposition of refractory and fusiblemetals and alloys on powder materials.Evaluation of coating thickness uniformity on asingle powder particle as well as on the powdermass was shown. Wei Dong Zhu from StevensInstitute of Technology followed with a presenta-tion on pulsed reactive magnetron sputtering ofTiO2. Time-resolved optical emission spectra of Ti,Ar, and O were correlated to the pulsed plasmaproperties during the deposition. Darren Gardnerfrom Macquarie University, Gladesville, Australia,introduced a new ion beam system in which theanode voltage has a half-wave sinusoidal form.The growth mechanisms of TiN-based hard andsuperhard nanocomposite coatings as investigatedby spectroscopic ellipsometry were presented byLudvik Martinu of École Polytechnique deMontreal. The contribution by Dave Smith fromRestek Performance Coatings featured lowoutgassing silicon-based coatings on stainlesssteel surfaces for vacuum applications. Thecoatings are resilient, inert, and capable ofwithstanding temperatures above 400°C.

On Tuesday afternoon, the session beganwith a presentation by John Petersen from IonicFusion Corporation on nanoparticle impregnationand deposition of catalytic and diffusion barriermaterials, using ionic plasma deposition (IPD).The method provides a uniform coating coverageon the non-line-of-sight surfaces of the metalfoam material. Hana Baránková from UppsalaUniversity discussed PVD of films on ferromag-netic substrates in magnetized plasma systems.

PVD regimes in high-density plasma must beadapted with respect to a prominent contributionof bombardment by energetic particles. MichaelL. Fulton of Ion Beam Optics Inc. introducedspace-based deposition technologies for solarpower and astronomical applications. Twopresentations were devoted to atmosphericpressure plasma and its applications. DanielKaute from Plasma Treat North America Inc.described high-voltage, pulsed DC generatedFLUME plasma systems and their applications forcleaning and activation of metals, glass,ceramics, polymers, and composites and forpolymerization. The FLUME systems allow in-line applications. The atmospheric pressureplasma jet (APPJ) presented by Hans Herrmannfrom APJet, Inc., is used in downstream orremote regimes for surface cleaning, etching,activation, reactive deposition, and plasmapolymerization. The final presentation by HiltonPryce-Lewis of GVD Corporation was devoted topolymer coatings by initiated CVD (iCVD). Theprocess is scalable for large areas and movingweb substrates.

We look forward and welcome you to thenext SVC TechCon “Emerging TechnologiesForum” in Washington, DC, in 2006.

Hana Baránková, Uppsala University, Sweden([email protected]), and Lad Bárdos,Uppsala University, Sweden([email protected]), are the EmergingTechnologies TAC Co-Chairs.

“Heuréka!” Post-DeadlineRecent Developments Session

The 2005 TechCon “Heuréka!” session was againproven to be an important and prestigious forumfor late-breaking results at the SVC TechCon. Itwas accompanied by considerable interest ofconference participants and stimulatingquestions and discussions from the audience.Due to growing interest of authors in presentingtheir recent developments in this forum, thesession program was expanded to two evenings.

The Monday evening program began withthe presentation by Mark George from DepositionSciences, Inc., about improved control of reactivesputtering by means of high-speed mass flowcontrollers. John Arkwright from CSIROdescribed a method for improved Ti filmthickness uniformity in filtered cathodic vacuumarc evaporation by a thin aperture mask in frontof the moving substrate. Wilmert DeBosscherfrom Bekaert explained the basic features of therotating cylindrical ITO targets in the large-areasputtering in comparison with conventionalplanar magnetrons. The last contribution in theMonday evening program was presented by

Ahmet Gun Erlat from General Electric GlobalResearch Center on ultra-high barrier coatings,mainly against oxygen ingress, for flexible organicelectronics where glass is replaced by plasticsubstrates for lightning and other optoelectronicapplications.

The Tuesday evening session began with thepresentation of Russel Jewett from Sencera on anelectrodeless inductively coupled high-densityplasma source (up to 5 x 1012 cm-3) for large areathin-film processing. Peter Hockley from PlasmaQuest Limited described high-density plasmageneration (> 1013 cm-3) and film depositiontechnology with more than 95% target utilizationand ability to sputter from thick ferromagnetics.Abe Belkind from Stevens Institute of Technologypresented an interesting sequence of time-resolved images of the optical emissions frompulsed DC titanium target magnetron plasma.The last contribution in the Tuesday eveningprogram was presented by Sreenivas Kosarajufrom Colorado School of Mines on plasma-assisted co-evaporation for deposition ofchalcocite and nitride thin films using novelinductively coupled plasma source.

The exciting program with new ideas andsolutions made “Heuréka!" evenings in Denver agreat success. We are very grateful to HelixTechnology Corporation for generously sponsoringthe refreshments for these evening sessions. Weare looking forward to next year’s "Heuréka!"sessions at the 2006 TechCon in Washington, DC.

Lad Bárdos Uppsala University([email protected]) and HanaBaránková, Uppsala University([email protected]), are the Heuréka!Co-Chairs

Innovators Showcase

The SVC’s Innovators Showcase has emerged asthe premier venue to introduce new products andservices to the vacuum coating community. Overthe past few years the Innovators Showcase has

SVC TechCon Reportscontinued from page 5

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The SVC TechCon Bookstore allowed attendees topreview books on vacuum coating before ordering.

“SVC was awesome this year, I think.What a great group to beassociated with.”Paul Gagnon, Corning, Inc.

grown in relevance as a vehicle to spread the word quickly and efficiently. This year’s presentations once again raised the bar in terms of quality and

relevance of the subject matter. Special thanks go out to all the participantswho took the time and energy to craft a fascinating roster of presentations. TheAdam’s Mark hotel afforded us ample room and, once again, the SVC A/V staffdid a fabulous job ensuring that everything ran smoothly.

Extending the conference for a day and reducing the number of parallelconference sessions from four to three had a dramatic impact on attendance atthe Innovators Showcase. Most presenters found an audience that exceeded fortyattendees. This is quite a change from the days (which were not all that long ago)where the majority of the attendees were “booth mates” and competitors!

If you are planning to exhibit at the 2006 TechCon in Washington, DC, thena presentation at the Innovators Showcase is a surefire way to increase boothtraffic! Presentations are limited to 10 minutes (plan on using PowerPoint tomaximize the visual impact of the presentation).

Everyone is welcome to participate. All you need to do is submit an abstract,and the SVC’s on-line abstract submission process has made this task easier thanever. Act quickly for we are likely to run short of these presentation slots.

We’re on a roll. Let’s continue our success in Washington, DC next year!See you there!

Frank Zimone, Denton Vacuum LLC ([email protected]) is the InnovatorsShowcase Chair.

Joint Session on Processes, Materials, andSystems for Flexible Electronics and Optics

The program of the Special Joint Session focused already for the third consecu-tive year on a hot topic within the SVC community, namely Flexible Electronicsand Optics. This year, the technical program was organized jointly by the TACChairs of the Optical Coating, Web Coating, Large Area, and Plasma Processingsessions. It represented a set of contributions given by experts from sixdifferent countries, including Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, theNetherlands, and the United States. On Tuesday morning, this session,moderated by Ludvik Martinu and Peter Moulds, was introduced by an enlight-ening invited talk by Roger Phillips of Flex Products – a JDS Uniphase Company,on “Using Vacuum Roll Coaters to Produce Anti-counterfeiting Devices.” Hispresentation was highly informative and illustrative, and it dealt with thepresent and future trends, opportunities, and technologies for advanced thinfilm security devices that must become at the same time technologically evermore complex in order to stay ahead of the counterfeiters and simple in order tomake their application economically viable.

The following presentations concentrated on different aspects of thefabrication, processes, materials, and metrology suitable for displays; thisincluded “PECVD Processed Silicon Carbide for Organic Luminescent Devices”by William Weidner (Dow Corning Corp.), “Sputter Deposition of Titanium OxideCoatings for Plasma Display Filters” by Peter Persoone (Bekaert), “Ion-InducedEffects During Reactive Sputtering of ITO Films” by Oleg Zabeida (ÉcolePolytechnique), and “Organic Light Emitting Diode Thin Film StructureCharacterization by Phase Modulated Spectroscopic Ellipsometry” by AlanKramer (Horiba - Jobin Yvon). Numerous presentations dealt with “pushing thelimits” of ultra-barrier coatings both from the fabrication as well as testingpoints. This included “Multilayer Ultra Barrier Coatings for FlexibleElectronics: Looking at the Layers”; “Interphase Development by Means of InSitu Real-Time Studies,” by Mariadriana Creatore (Eindhoven University ofTechnology), “Gas Diffusion Barriers on Polymers Using Al2O3 Atomic LayerDeposition,” by Markus D. Groner (University of Colorado), “StructuralInvestigation of PECVD Moisture Barrier Coatings by Positronium AnnihilationLifetime Spectroscopy,” by Ludmil Zambov (Dow Corning Corporation),“Automatic Permeability Testing: Challenges and Solutions,” by Alyce Hartvigsen(PBI-Dansensor A/S), and “Water Vapor Permeation Testing of Ultra-Barriers:Limitations of Current Methods and Advancements Resulting in IncreasedSensitivity,” by Michelle Stevens (MOCON Inc.). The joint session provided



great merit by attracting a large technicalcommunity around a common hot topic, a factthat largely contributed to an efficient scientificexchange.

We plan to organize new joint sessions atthe 2006 SVC TechCon that would bring togetherexperts from different fields and with differentbackgrounds. Please let us know your commentsand suggestions by contacting Ludvik Martinu orPeter Moulds.

Ludvik Martinu, École Polytechnique, Montreal,Canada ([email protected]), Optical Coating TACChair; Peter J. Moulds, Ursa InternationalCorporation ([email protected]), Vacuum WebCoating TAC Co-Chair; Michael Andreasen, VACT([email protected]); and VasgenShamamian, Dow Corning Corporation([email protected]), Plasma ProcessingTAC Chair, jointly organized this session.

Plasma Processing SessionsPerspective

This year’s Plasma Processing sessions wereagain defined by a wide variety of interesting andexciting topics, as exemplified by our invitedspeakers. Our first invited speaker was PaulGagon (Corning, Inc.), who spoke about the drugdiscovery industry and the role of plasmaprocessing in product development. UlfHelmersson (Linkoping University) kicked off thesession dedicated to high-power impulsemagnetron sputtering (HIPIMS). Our finalinvited speaker, Jurgen Engemann (JE

PlasmaConsult GmbH), discussed atmosphericpressure plasma jets and the very unique “plasmabullet” formation. Our contributed talksrepresented research underway in academic,industrial, and government laboratories aroundthe world. The talks covered a broad range ofplasma sources and technologies used inmaterials processing, including: electron beam-generated plasmas, flowing afterglow plasmas,magnetrons, vacuum arcs, hollow cathodes,inductively coupled plasmas, ion guns, andplasma jets. The sessions were strong in plasmadiagnostics and system characterization, as wellas in situ materials characterization. Diagnostictechniques that were discussed included electro-static probes, energy-resolved mass spectrometry,and optical emission spectroscopy. In situ growthmonitoring using X-ray diffraction and spectro-scopic ellipsometry were discussed also.Common to all presentations was the strongrelationship to processing, covering applicationslike barrier coatings, biocompatible surfaces, andhard coatings on substrates ranging from plasticsto gun barrels.

This year, the Plasma Processing TACestablished a special session on high-powerimpulse magnetron sputtering (HIPIMS), a newand upcoming technology that is attracting agrowing audience, as evidenced by the session’sattendance. The invited talk by Ulf Helmerssonpresented an overview of HIPIMS, illustrating theneed for ionized physical vapor deposition (I-PVD) technologies, introducing the typical

plasma parameters of HIPIMS, and thefundamental properties of films deposited usingthe technique. The session addressed a host oftopics including HIPIMS plasma properties anddischarge temporal evolution using time-resolvedion composition and energy studies.Presentations addressing the deposition rates


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Holger Nörenberg of Technolox Ltd., Oxford, UnitedKingdom, presented in the Vacuum Web Coatingsession at the 2005 TechCon in Denver, CO.

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using both theoretical and experimentalapproaches were given. The upscaling of HIPIMSto industrial scale commercial equipment wasalso demonstrated. The session included threetalks on conventional mid-frequency pulsedsputtering. In those, time-resolved electrontemperature and plasma potential measurementswere discussed, as was the use of powder targetsfor optical materials growth. Based on thesuccess of this year’s HIPIMS session, the PlasmaProcessing TAC is planning to repeat the session

at next year’s TechCon.The breadth and diversity in the content of

this year’s presentations illustrate the constantprogress in plasma processing and the companionevolution in approaches to processing problems.We thank all the presenters for sharing their workand making this another outstanding year! Wehope to continue this tradition next year, with afocus on plasma and ion sources, plasma diagnos-tics, and new techniques.

Scott Walton, US Naval Research Laboratory([email protected]) is the 2006 PlasmaProcessing TAC Chair; and Falk Milde, VON ARDENNEAnlagentechnik GmbH ([email protected]),and Arutiun Ehiasarian, Sheffield-Hallam University,([email protected]), are the Assistant TACChairs.

Large Area Coating

Thanks to all of the presenters who covered abroad range of applications, processes,equipment, and basic improvements intechnology of interest to the Large Area Coatingscommunity during the two Large Area CoatingSessions at the 2005 SVC TechCon. Let memention that many of the presentations werejoint efforts of several companies or institutions.For more information on any of these presenta-tions, consult the Program or Proceedings.

The first session, chaired by MichaelAndreasen, VACUUM COATING Technologies,Inc., was organized around the general topics ofmodeling of sputter erosion and rate enhance-ment, improvements in coating systems andcomponents, and plasma activated E-beamdeposition. Takuji Oyama of the Asahi GlassCompany Research Center led off the sessionwith an invited talk titled “TheoreticalConsiderations of Magnetron Discharges withRespect to Arcing and Plasma Structure in DCand AC Sputtering. He showed how modeling thecomplex phenomena in plasmas could providephysical insights to understanding and optimizingsputter processes. He also showed a hybridmodel simulating the plasma structure of anunbalanced magnetron and a dual magnetronoperated in a bipolar mode. Guy Buyle of GhentUniversity followed with a presentation titled“Monte Carlo Simulation of Anomalous Erosion inLarge Area Sputter Magnetrons” in which heshowed that the increased deposition commonlyoccurring at the ends of linear sputter

magnetrons is due to increased ionization causedby electrons being accelerated from a weaker(turnaround area) to a stronger (middle ofmagnetron) magnetic field.

Next, five presentations were made in theImprovements in Coating Systems andComponents category. Phil Greene, of VACUUMCOATING Technologies, started us off with apresentation titled “Flexibility and ProductivityImprovements in a New Coating System Design,”which showed newly available improvements inflexible, reconfigurable, large area coating systemsrelated to reduced cost of operation and improvedyield. Joern Brueckner, of VON ARDENNEAnlagentechnik, presented a talk titled “AdvancedRotatable Magnetron Module Designed for LargeArea Glass Coaters” in which he showed a newlyavailable rotatable magnetron module with aclosed loop process control system. Krist Dellaert,of Bekaert, presented “Advances in SputterHardware for Rotating Cylindrical MagnetronSputtering” in which he showed seal and powertransmission improvements to end blocks as wellas vertical and cantilevered versions of rotatablemagnetrons for display applications. AnjaBlondeel, of Bekaert, made a presentation titled“Large Area Rotating Magnetron Sputtering:Magnetic System Enhancements” in which sheshowed a newly designed magnet bar that can betuned to improve cross-coater uniformity. ThomasRettich, of Heuttinger Electronic, Inc., discussedpower supply requirements for display applica-tions vs. the better-known architectural applica-tions in his presentation titled “MF and RFSystems for Large Area Glass Coating and FlatPanel Display Applications.” “New Steps TowardLarge Area Plasma Activated EB-PVD” was thetopic presented by Ekkehart Reinhold, of VONARDENNE Anlagentechnik. He discussed electronbeam deposition for large area applications andhow, typically, deposition rates for some materialsare higher for EB, but the layers are more porousand less dense than sputtered films andconsequently have poorer durability and lowerindex. Tomas Nyberg, of Uppsala University, gavethe last presentation of the session, “Modeling of




Mr. Wizard Presentation hadStanding Room Only!

The inaugural presentation of “A VacuumWizard’s Guide to Understanding Vacuum andVacuum Coating” drew a large crowd, withstanding room only for late comers. Theresponse from attendees was enthusiasticand positive.

The presentation was based on anextensive set of table-top demonstrations andvisuals. Familiar everyday objects and activi-ties were used to connect attendees intangible ways with concepts related tovacuum and vacuum coating. Many of thedemonstrations used a transparent vacuumchamber so attendees could “see” the princi-ples of vacuum or vacuum coating in action.The presentation attracted both non-technical and technical attendees. All weredelighted.

Topics included pressure, vacuum,vacuum pumps, vacuum measurement, veryhigh and very low temperatures (as used incoating and pumping), the phase changesthat occur during vacuum coating, and theconcepts of mean free path and impingementrate. The latter concepts were explored inrelationship to sputtering and high rate andlow rate evaporation systems.

Don McClure, of 3M Corporate Research andformer SVC President ([email protected]),was our Vacuum Wizard. Plan on attending nextyear’s offering at the SVC TechCon inWashington, DC.

“Don McClure's “A Vacuum Wizard'sGuide to Understanding Vacuum andVacuum Coating” was simply amazing!

It brought to life the fundamentals that youonly read about. I now have a clear

understanding of what's going oninside that vacuum chamber.

Don McClure – you’re the wizard!”Erica Riley, Schick-Wilkinson Sword

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Anja Blondeel, of Bekaert, showed a newly designedmagnet bar that can be tuned to improve cross-coateruniformity.


Sputter Erosion Rate Enhancement from CeramicTargets.” This presentation proposes aninteresting explanation of why reported depositionrates of oxide materials are much higher fromceramic targets as opposed to reactive depositionfrom metallic targets.

The second session, chaired by JohannesStrümpfel of VON ARDENNE Anlagentechnik wasorganized around the general topics of modelingof reactive deposition processes, innovativetarget technologies, conductive films, linear ionsources, and improvements in large area coatingequipment. Professor Roger de Gryse started thesession with an invited talk titled “Aspects of theTarget Voltage Behavior in Reactive Sputtering.”Dr. de Gryse proposes that two processes relatedto poisoning are competing at the target surface:chemisorption and subplantation of reactive gasions. Their impact on target voltage (often usedas an early warning indicator of impending targetpoisoning) is very different and predictable. Amodel was presented in which the target voltageis expressed as the weighted difference betweenthe fraction of the target surface area occupiedby chemisorbed species and the fraction of thetarget surface, which is converted into compoundby ion implantation. Andreas Pflug, of theFraunhofer Institute for Surface Engineering andThin Films (Braunschweig), followed with hismodeling presentation titled “Modeling of thePlasma Impedance in Reactive MagnetronSputtering for Various Target Materials.” Hepresents a heuristic model relating plasmaimpedance combined with gas flow simulationand chemisorption models to explain the voltagehysteresis curves of several reacted metal deposi-tion processes, including Zn, Ti, W and Hf. Thelong-term intent of this work is to develop model-based process control for large area coatingsystems. Florian Ruske, of the FraunhoferInstitute for Surface Engineering and Thin Films(Braunschweig), then gave a presentation titled

“Hydrogen Doping of ZnO:Al Films Deposited byPulsed DC Sputtering of Ceramic Targets,” whichdiscussed the addition of hydrogen as a donor toincrease charge carrier concentration in ZnO:Alfilms deposited from relatively inexpensivesintered targets. “New Developments in theManufacturing of Thermal Sprayed CylindricalTargets” were presented by Hilde Delrue, ofBekaert, who compared Sn rotatable targetsmade by standard and improved thermal sprayprocesses to cast Sn targets. The improvedthermal spray process was shown to producetargets with columnar structure, large grain size,low included oxygen and nitrogen content, highdensity and high ductility—very similar to castSn targets. Wolf-Michael Gnehr, of theFraunhofer Institut (FEP), made a presentationtitled “Pulsed Plasmas for Reactive Deposition ofITO Layers” in which he investigates some of thecharacteristics of pulsed packet (DC) sputtering.Monte Carlo simulations show that the pulseparameters (on/off times and pulses perpackage) affect the energy of neutral particlesincident on the substrate and growing film.Denis Shaw, of Advanced Energy Industries, thengave a talk on “Closed Drift Ion Sources for LargeArea Architectural Glass Coating.” Recently,linear ion beam sources have been scaled to sizesappropriate for use in large area coating (up to 4meters in length). This opens up their use forsubstrate pre-cleaning, direct deposition and co-deposition in large area coating equipment. MikePlaisted, of Soleras Ltd., then continued ourmini-session on target technology with a presen-tation titled “Application of HIP (Hot IsostaticPressing) to Rotatable Sputter Targets.” Heshowed how hipped targets are made anddescribed some of the features/benefits of near100% dense targets—minimalcontaminants/atmospheric inclusions, high index,improved heat transfer and increased depositionrate due to increased power handling capability.Next was Mathew Fonte, of Dynamic MachineWorks, Inc., who presented another targetmanufacturing technology that is new to many of

us—flow forming—in a talk aptly titled “Flowformed Rotatable Sputtering Targets.” Hedescribed the technology and its potentialbenefits to manufacturing targets for the largearea coating industry. Michael Geisler, of AppliedFilms GmbH, closed the session with a presenta-tion titled “Latest Progress of Coating Technologyin Architectural Glass Coaters and Applications.”He described a large area coating system usingcantilever rotatable magnetrons and a newmethod of removing the targets.

We would like to thank participants andattendees alike for making this session sosuccessful and informative.

Michael Andreasen, VACUUM COATING Technologies,Inc. ([email protected]), is the Large AreaCoating TAC Chair; Johannes Strümpfel, VONARDENNE Anlagentechnik GmbH([email protected]), is theAssistant TAC Chair.

Optical Coating

The 2005 Optical Coating technical programattracted a large number of participants.Important developments in this field and themost recent trends are characterized by thediversification of activities, as illustrated by awide spectrum of topics presented. The programconsisted of presentations divided into twomorning sessions and one afternoon session; inaddition, selected talks were presented as part ofthe joint session that focused on flexible opticsand electronics. Several other activities (such asthe networking breakfasts and lunchtimetutorials) underlined the important role of opticalfilms and coatings in modern technologies.

The first technical session on Mondaymorning highlighted a very important subjectwithin the optical coating community, namely,Advanced Optical Metrology. This topic wasintroduced by David Aspnes, North Carolina StateUniversity, in his invited presentation entitled“Recent Advances in Optical Characterization ofThin Films by Spectroscopic Ellipsometry.”Subsequent speakers discussed specific examplesof film analysis by ellipsometry in the context ofsolar selective coatings (John Woollam, J.A.Woollam Co. Inc.), modelling of anisotropicstacks (Alan Kramer, Horiba Jobin Yvon), and insitu real time film growth monitoring comple-mented by dynamic Monte Carlo simulations(Ludvik Martinu, École Polytechnique). Thesetopics were further completed by the analysis ofsensitivity variation during manufacture (DanielPoitras, NRC) and statistical process analysis forreverse engineering (Ian Stevenson, DentonVacuum LLC).

The second optical session on Wednesdayafternoon on “New Optical Materials andProcesses” was introduced by Jacek Wojcik(McMaster University) who focused on"Modelling and Experimental Determination ofthe Optical Properties of Thin Films," with aparticular emphasis on photoluminescence fromSi nano-crystals in silica matrix. Contributed



2005 TechConEducation Program

The highest number of coursesever offered at the SVC 2005TechCon in Denver attractedalmost 300 participants. Therewere 33 courses to choose from. Inaddition to the old favorites, threenew courses were offered:Practical Aspects of PermeationMeasurement, From Polymer Filmsto Ultra-high Barriers; Plasma WebTreatment; and Pulsed Plasma

Processing. All of the new courses were well attended. Planning for 2006 TechCon has alreadybegun. This is a good time for suggesting new courses that you would like to see offered in 2006.Please send your suggestions to the Education Committee Chairs.

S. Ismat Shah, University of Delaware ([email protected]) is the SVC Education Committee Chair, and VasgenShamamian, Dow Corning Corporation ([email protected]), is the Assistant Chair.

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TECHNICALPROGRAM

EXHIBIT &INNOVATORS

SHOWCASE

EDUCATIONPROGRAM

SVC Mission Statement

The Society of VacuumCoaters (SVC) is an interna-tional non-profit organiza-tion dedicated to thedevelopment, application,and advancement ofvacuum coating and relatedtechnologies. SVC’s missionis to foster technicalexcellence by providing aglobal forum in which itinforms and educates itsmembers and the public onall aspects of vacuumcoating.

SVC Mission Statement

The Society of VacuumCoaters (SVC) is an interna-tional non-profit organiza-tion dedicated to thedevelopment, application,and advancement ofvacuum coating and relatedtechnologies. SVC’s missionis to foster technicalexcellence by providing aglobal forum in which itinforms and educates itsmembers and the public onall aspects of vacuumcoating.

2006 SVC Technical ConferenceApr i l 22–27 , 2006 • Marr io t t Wardman Park Hote l , Washington DC

Join us in 2006 for education, innovation andinformation on the vacuum coating industry at the

49th Annual SVCTechnical Conferencein the USA’s Cosmopolitan Capital City.

Showcasing exciting innovations and new technologiesat the only exhibit devoted entirely to vacuumcoating.

Anyone can take advantage of the practical, problem-solving courses developed by theSVC. Taught by some of the most respected professionals in the vacuum coating industry, thesecourses cover every aspect of vacuum coating.

CALL FOR PAPERS for the SVC’s premier information exchange and networking event!Visit www.svc.org to review the 2005 SVC Technical Conference Program, or for moreinformation on submitting your abstract for the 2006 conference.DEADLINE FOR ABSTRACTS: SEPTEMBER 30, 2005

Society of Vacuum Coaters 505/856-7188 Fax 505/856-6716 E-mail [email protected]

www.svc.org

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} FOR INFORMATION ON THIS ONE-OF-A-KIND EVENT!

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presentations in this session discussed differentcomplementary aspects, in particular new andnovel deposition approaches such the end-Hallion source (David Burtner, Veeco Instruments)closed field magnetron sputtering for achievingsuper-smooth metal-oxide films (Michael Walls,Applied Multilayers Ltd.), gridless ion-source forfluoride films (Darren Gardner, MacquarieUniversity), pulsed DC sputtering of niobia (ArnoSchintlmeister, Plansee AG), wear-resistantcoatings on plastics (Stefan Bauer, Schott AG),enhanced performance of high index scandiumoxide films (Guillermo Acosta, Brigham YoungUniversity), and plasmon resonance characteris-tics for biosensors (Ian Stevenson, DentonVacuum LLC).

The third session on Thursday morning wasdevoted to “Advanced Applications of OpticalCoatings” providing a unique set of examplesillustrating recent trends in this area. Thesession was initiated by Joanne Jones-Meehanfrom the Naval Research Laboratory inWashington DC. Her talk entitled “OpticalImmunoassays to Detect Environmental Agentsand Pathogens in Clinical Specimens” introducedthe fast evolving field of biomedical applications.Specific examples include fabrication of coatingsfor extreme ultraviolet (EUV) applications(Cheng-Chung Lee, National Central Universityand Horst Neumann, Leibnitz Institute ofOberflachenmodifizierung), design of nonpolar-izing beamsplitters (Ron Willey, Willey OpticalConsultants), and process optimization involvingrate control (Michael Gevelber, BostonUniversity), uniformity control (John Arkwright,CSIRO), impedance spectroscopy studies ofprotected silver reflectors (Frederic Sabary, CEALe Ripault), and stress reduction in hafnia/silicamultilayers (Doug Smith, Plymouth GratingLaboratories). This session also featured a highlyinteresting student presentation from ÉcolePolytechnique in Montreal, entitled “Playing withLight – The Quest for New Optically VariableDevices” by Bill Baloukas.

The series of traditional networkingbreakfasts is an integral part of the OpticalCoating activities. Apart from the gastronomic

pleasures, these featured discussions on “OpticalMonitoring and Process Control” moderated byRic Shimshock, MLD Technologies (Tuesdaymorning), “N- and P-type Transparent ConductiveCoatings” moderated by Clark Bright, 3MCompany, “Optical Design” moderated by AngusMacleod, Thin Film Center, and “Ion and Plasma-Based Processing for Optical Coatings”moderated by Ludvik Martinu, ÉcolePolytechnique (Wednesday morning). AngusMacleod shared his wisdom with us in hislunchtime tutorial lecture on real-life experiencewith “Optical Coatings and Systems” on Tuesday.

This year’s optical session was verysuccessful and well attended, demonstrating thecontinuous interest of the technical community inthe advancement of this field. In fact, we arealready in the process of preparing the programfor the 2006 TechCon. In this respect, I wouldlike to acknowledge the enthusiasm of IanStevenson from Denton Vacuum LLC, and BryantHichwa from the Sonoma State University, whokindly accepted to act as TAC Co-Chairs of theOptical Coating session for the 2006 conference. Iwish them good luck and ask you to contact themwith your possible comments and suggestions.

(Ludvik Martinu, École Polytechnique([email protected]), was the 2005 Optical CoatingTAC Chair; and George Dobrowolski, retired from theNational Research Council ofCanada([email protected]), was the 2005Optical Coating TAC Assistant Chair.

Plasma Processing of Webs:Session Summary

In addition to our regular sessions, this year thePlasma Processing and Vacuum Web TACs collabo-rated in sponsoring a joint session on PlasmaProcessing of Webs. The session had manyexciting talks discussing the latest research andapplications in high-performance coatings onflexible substrates. Moses David of the 3MCorporation described the film characteristics,methods of plasma deposition, and potential usesfor diamond-like carbon (DLC) and silicon-dopedDLC in the marketplace. David showed theaudience that DLC is a versatile material withmany superior properties such as high lubricity,corrosion resistance, and high mechanical

toughness. In addition to polymer webs, usingplasma in fluidized beds to coat DLC on particlesand tubular capacitive systems to coat fiber opticsare also possible. Two talks discussed thechemistry, utility, and pitfalls of in-line plasmapretreatment strategies in web coating. PierreFayet of Tetra Pak SA, showed compellingevidence of the deleterious effects and trends ofsize distributions of particles used in theantiblocking layer of commercial polymer webs onthe barrier properties of PECVD ceramic coatingsof polyester webs. Jeremy Grace of the EastmanKodak Company discussed the importance ofplasma/web source design, biasing, and interac-tion and their impact on N-atom uptake kineticsand resulting film nitrogen functional group differ-entiation. Finally, nearly half of the presentationsfeatured new plasma processing strategies usingnonthermal atmospheric pressure discharges.Stuart Leadley of Dow Corning’s Plasma Solutionsand his collaborator Denis Dowling of UniversityCollege Dublin demonstrated a new, scalable,plasma technology, capable of injecting an aerosolinto a discharge. The resulting polymerized filmcoating showed excellent retention of functionalgroup properties such as hydrophobicity orhydrophillicity. We believe atmospheric pressureprocessing reflects an exciting new trend in webcoating, and the Plasma and Web TACs will bepleased to see more involvement of SVC in thisimportant technical area.

Vasgen Shamamian, Dow Corning Corporation([email protected]), was the 2005Plasma Processing TAC Chair; and Peter Moulds, UrsaInternational ([email protected]), is theVacuum Web Coating TAC Co-Chair

Process Control &Instrumentation

The PC&I TAC focuses on the enablingtechniques, instruments, and controls that makethin film coatings possible. This year's TechConsession proved both interesting and informativewith presentations on new approaches to control-ling thin film deposition processes.

We led off our session with our invited talkentitled “Multi-Gas, Multi-Zone ReactiveSputtering Control System,” by Bill Sproul ofReactive Sputtering Consultants LLC. As always,


Bill’s presentation provided valuable insights intoreactive sputtering and possible solutions forcontrolling the complex process behavior.Dermot Monaghan of Gencoa Ltd, presented oursecond talk, “Long-Term Process Control andStability in Reactive Sputtering,” which discussedreactive sputtering control from a differentperspective and offered some additional solutionsfor controlling the process.

Our third presentation, “Pole PiecesInsertion in Target for NiCr MagnetronSputtering: Influence on Plasma and CoatingProperties,” was presented by Corinne Nouvellonof Materia Nova. This presentation discussed howinsertion of ferromagnetic pole pieces in thetarget can improve target efficiency, uniformity,and utilization. Our fourth presentation, “Coatingof Powder Particles in a Magnetron Plasma,” wasgiven by Holger Kersten of INP Greifswald.Instead of the typical view of particles as contam-ination for most thin film processes, this presen-tation reviewed the use of particles as adiagnostic tool and the tailoring of particles forspecific characteristics.

Our next presentation was “SpectroscopicMueller Matrix Polarimeter Using Liquid CrystalDevice Polarization State Generator andDetector,” given by Alan Kramer of Horiba JobinYvon. Alan presented the theory, design, andapplication of a polarimeter based on liquidcrystal devices. Next was a presentation byJurgen Röpcke of INP Greifswald, “On the



At the 48th SVC Annual Technical Conference in Denver an oral history interview with DaleMorton, Denton Vacuum LLC (retired), was conducted by Frank Zimone. A transcript of thisinterview will be available on the SVC Web Site soon in the “History” section under “Oral Interviews”at http://www.svc.org/H/H_OralInterviews.html.

The SVC Web Site has an “In Memoriam” section under “About SVC” to recognize the passing ofpeople who were active in the Society of Vacuum Coaters athttp://www.svc.org/AboutSVC/AS_Memoriam.html.

The SVC History Committee has decided that the passing of notables in both vacuum coatingand vacuum technology from outside the SVC should also be noted for future generations.Henceforth, a short biography on people who have been important to the community will be notedunder the “History” button in the “News, Notes, and Comments” section of the Web Site.

The SVC notes the passing of Ron Christy, Tribo Coating, Malibu, CA (1938–2004). Ron was wellknown in the vacuum coating community although he was not active in the SVC. The SVC also notesthe passing of Ronald Philip (Ron) Howson, Loughborough University, UK, on February 28, 2005. Forfurther details on the lives of Ron Christy and Ron Howson please visit the SVC Web Site athttp://www.svc.org/H/H_Notes.html.

The History Committee invites people to add their thoughts in memory of these individuals bysending an E-mail to Don Mattox at [email protected]. The History Committee also solicits informationon any person of note in the vacuum coating community who has died. The History Committee wouldlike to remember them in the most appropriate manner.

The History Committee is creating a book to commemorate 50 years of SVC, both from aperspective of the organization of SVC and the developments of the technologies in which the Societyhas been particularly active. If “old timers” have photos, write-ups, and/or memories to share ofevents that have taken place over the past 48 years, please send these to SVC.

Donald M. Mattox, SVC Technical Director ([email protected]) is Chair of the History Committee; RicShimshock, MLD Technologies LLC ([email protected]) and Dale Morton, Denton Vacuum - retired([email protected]) are the Assistant Chairs of the History Committee.

SVC History Committee News


Application of Quantum Cascade Laser-Absorption Spectroscopy for Plasma ProcessMonitoring.” This presentation discussed theadvantages of a room-temperature quantumcascade laser for use in plasma processmonitoring.

Our next presentation, “True 2-D ImagingSpectroscopy in a Reactive Sputter Process forLarge Scale Optical Glass Coating,” presented byTill Wallendorf of IfU Diagnostic Systems GmbH,discussed the use of this noninvasive techniquefor controlling large-scale optical coating. Nextwas a presentation by Eric Teboul of Horiba JobinYvon on “An Optical Sensor for Real-Time In SituEndpoint Monitoring During Dry Etching of III-VMultistack Layers,” which discussed the use of anIR CCD for end-point detection compared to avisible laser diode.

Our last two presentations dealt with acommon problem, arcing, in DC- and RF-poweredprocesses. Dave Christie of Advanced EnergyIndustries presented “Arc HandlingConsiderations for DC Sputtering PowerSupplies,” and Gideon van Zyl, also of AdvancedEnergy Industries, presented our final talk,“Managing Arcs in RF Powered PlasmaProcesses.” Design considerations for these twotypes of power supplies were reviewed to showhow damage to process products and equipmentcan be minimized.

J. Grant Armstrong, Carberry Technologies,([email protected]) and Dave Chamberlain,MKS Instruments, Inc.([email protected]) are the ProcessControl and Instrumentation TAC Co-Chairs.

Smart Materials Symposium

The Smart Materials Symposium took placeWednesday, April 27. A series of presentationsreported on recent advances on a variety ofmaterials with “smart” features. The flavor wasdefinitely an international one with contributorsfrom Australia, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Japan,Portugal, Sweden, as well as, naturally, theUnited States. Carl Lampert from Star Sciencegave a general overview of smart materials with afocus on the advances since the time of theprevious SVC Technical Conference.

Large area plastic solar cell modules haveundergone rapid developments during the pastseveral years. Their efficiency is still much lowerthan for silicon solar cells and several of theiralternatives, but the plastic cells give hopes forvery inexpensive manufacturing. Longevity isanother challenge that has to be met before thetechnology is ready for the market. FrederickKrebs from the Risoe National Laboratory inDenmark gave an invited presentation coveringthe state of the art for plastic solar cells modulesand reported on the rapid progress that hastaken place in his own laboratory.

Plastic solar cells, as well as many other

optical and optoelectronic devices, have perform-ances that are critically dependent ontransparent electrically conducting thin films.Dana Olson from the National Renewable EnergyLaboratory gave a talk on this topic, with a focuson nano-structured oxide conductors for plasticsolar cells. Another talk on the same generaltopic was given by Bernd Szyszka from theFraunhofer Institute for Surface Engineering andThin Films in Braunschweig, Germany, whoreported on progress on the manufacturing oftransparent and conducting films of ZnO:Al bylarge-area in-line magnetron sputtering.Underlying much of the current work ontransparent conductors is the fact that the mostpopular material, In2O3:Sn (known as indium tinoxide or ITO), has become much more expensiveduring the past few years, and hence the interestin potentially low-cost alternatives is soaring.The reason for the high cost of ITO was discussedat length outside the formal sessions of theSymposium—with no consensus being reached.

Electrochromic devices for architectural“smart windows” have been in the limelight forseveral years. Prototypes and pilot-scale produc-tion has been attempted, but the “smart window”still remains something of the Holy Grail ofarchitecture. Based on many years of R&D, SAGEElectrochromics of Faribault is now ready formarket introduction of roof windows. Neil Sbargave an invited presentation of the work at SAGEand showed performance data illustrating the highdegree of transmittance modulation that can beachieved. Claes Granqvist of Uppsala Universityin Sweden talked about flexible electrochromicfoils, which are now being commercialized byChromoGenics Sweden AB with the object ofimplementing this new technology first inconsumer products and then in the automotiveand architectural markets. Electrochromicdevices were addressed also by Matteo Biancardoof the Risoe National Laboratory in Denmark,whose focus was on wide band gap nano-crystalline semiconductors functionalized withpoly-nuclear mixed valence compounds.

Heat leaks through windows are costly bothin climates requiring heating and requiringcooling. One radical way to improve the thermal

SVC TechCon Reportscontinued from page 9Workshop on the “Past,

Present, and Future ofSpecialty Vacuum Roll Coating”

The concept of holding a workshop reviewingwhere specialty roll coating has been, where itis now, and where it might be headed cameout of a discussion that Roger Phillips andJohn Fenn, Jr. had about a year ago. They bothagreed that it might make an interesting topicat the 2005 SVC TechCon and agreed tocontact various colleagues in the field tocontribute. Our only instructions to themwere that they should be “entertaining, contro-versial, and educational.” It appeared fromthe attendance of over 100 people, lasting wellpast 7 p.m., that the panel successfullyachieved these concepts in their presentations.It could have been the fact that the workshopwas held after the Beer Blast in the Exhibit hallhelped, but this is only speculation.

Roger Phillips and John Fenn, Jr. tried tobring together a wide cross section of peopleinvolved in this field. The panel members wereDon McClure of 3M, Charles Bishop of C.A.Bishop Consultants, Roger Phillips of JDUniphase Flex Products, Bill Kittler of GnomicGroup and Liz Josephson of Applied Films.These participants ranged from large corpora-tions and entrepreneurial-based companies toequipment manufacturers. While theiropinions on where specialty vacuum rollcoating is currently and where it might beheaded were diverse and made for some livelydiscussion, some common themes could beextracted.

The first theme was that in the future,the trend would be toward more narrow widthvacuum flexible roll coating equipment thatwill be used to develop and introduce newspecialty roll coatings. The future marketswhere specialty roll coating will probably beinitially applied will start out as niche markets,requiring custom coatings with more rapidturnaround and relatively small volumes. Afterall, a large volume coater requires “a lot ofhay” to keep it going economically. Secondly,the impact of the available substrates on themarket would be significant. The surfaces ofthese substrates will have to be significantlyimproved. Whether this has to be performedonline in the vacuum coater or can be doneoffline is still a major question. Finally, thetheme of combining multiple functions in onevacuum coater was strongly debated.

The Workshop appeared to be wellaccepted at the TechCon. Both Roger Phillipsand John Fenn, Jr. enjoyed the exercise ofputting it together and look for other topicsthat lend themselves to such an exercise.

John Fenn, Jr., Fennagain,([email protected]), and Roger Phillips, JDUniphase ([email protected]), were theWorkshop Organizers.

The 2005 SVC TechCon attracted 1,355 attendees andhas been labeled one of the best ever.

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insulation is to avoid conduction and convectionin a double-glazed construction by removing theair. Clearly such “vacuum windows” need spacersin order not to implode—spacers that should besmall enough not to obstruct the view. Vacuumwindows were the subject of two presentationsfrom the University of Sydney in Australia.Nelson Ng reported on ways to characterize thethermal insulation properties and Lai Sodiscussed how to apply advanced surface analyt-ical techniques to the internal glass surfaces.

Photo-catalytic surface coatings attractmuch interest today. Such coatings can be self-cleaning under irradiation because the lightimpinging on such a surface tends to breakchemical bonds and therefore remove organicmaterial that otherwise may stick to the surface.Reactive sputtering for depositing photo-catalytic TiO2 coatings on glass was discussed byCarlos Tavares from Universidade do Minho inPortugal. A disadvantage with pure TiO2 is thatit only works efficiently with ultraviolet light,and it is clearly of interest to extend to spectralresponse so that it includes visible light. Apresentation by Joaquim Carneiro, also ofUniversidade de Minho, showed how Fe dopingcan be used to extend the response for TiO2-based coatings applied to plastics.

Application of smart materials to artificialorgans is a subject of much interest worldwide.Peter Martin from Pacific Northwest NationalLaboratory in Richland (WA) discussed oxygengeneration and biocompatibility aspects of a

photolytic artificial lung device. This workrepresents a major effort and includesresearchers also at the University of Pittsburgh,the Battelle Memorial Institute in Columbus, theMassachusetts Institute of Technology inCambridge, and Pharos LLC in Waltham.

Presentations were also given by SatoshiTakeda from Asahi Glass Co. in Yokohama, Japan,on characterization of oxygen in diverse oxidematerials by using 18O2 gas, and by Mark Georgefrom the University of Colorado in Boulder onatomic layer deposition on polymers.

The Smart Materials Symposium was wellattended, and there were lively discussions on anumber of scientific and technical matters. TheSymposium was no doubt a success thanks to thespeakers and the lively audience—and alsothanks to organizers who were able to overcome

a number of hurdles at the very last moment.

Claes G Granqvist, Uppsala University, Sweden ([email protected]) is a member of theSmart Materials Symposium Organizing Committee.

Tribological & DecorativeCoating

This year’s SVC conference exhibited a veryexciting and well-balanced program onTribological & Decorative Coatings. The sessionswere very well attended and offered interestingpresentations from various speakers fromindustry and universities.

The Monday morning session opened withtalks on fundamental research on tribologicalcoatings. The invited presentation from JimMoore of Colorado School of Mines opened the


The 2005 TechCon featured morepresentations than ever before!

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Each year the Society of Vacuum Coaters presents the Nathaniel SugermanAward and up to three Mentor Awards to individuals who have madeoutstanding contributions to the SVC or to vacuum coating technology.

The Sugerman Award commemorates the enduring efforts of NatSugerman in founding, nurturing, and supporting the Society of VacuumCoaters. It recognizes significant contributions in one or more of thefollowing areas: distinguished service to the SVC, outstanding technicalachievement, noteworthy educational contributions to the vacuum industry,or creative innovation in the development of a product or process pertainingto the vacuum industry. The Mentor Award recognizes those who have madeor are making significant contributions to the SVC and the industry by theirexample and guidance of others. The Mentor Award may be posthumous.Nominations are solicited from the membership, and the Awards Committeeselects the recipients based on the supporting information. The presenta-tions are made annually at the business meeting during the TechCon.

The 2005 Sugerman Award was presented to Jerzy (George)Dobrowolski. George is a major figure in optical coatings and his associationwith the National Research Council of Canada, where he spent much of hiscareer, which is now in its 50th year. Among George’s many significantcontributions is the idea to use the iridescence of optical coatings as ananticounterfeiting device. George worked with the Bank of Canada toperfect this technique, which inspired the invention of the color-variablepigment in wide use today. In 1965 George also published the first accountof the use of computer synthesis in the design of optical coatings. Georgehas many prestigious awards to his name and has written a large number ofbook chapters, papers, and patents. He teaches a thin film optics course forthe SVC and serves on the Optical TAC.

The 2005 recipients of the Mentor Awards were Rainer Ludwig, LudvikMartinu, and Carlo Misiano.

Rainer Ludwig is the Sales and Marketing Manager for all special webcoating systems at Applied Films, where he just celebrated his 20th anniver-sary. His work in heat transfer kinetics and the transport of polymeric filmshas been instrumental in the design of equipment for applications such asthe roll-to-roll coating of transparent conducting oxides and transparentbarriers on polymer films. He has published a large number of papersrelated to sputtering and electron beam technology, many of which have

been presented at the SVC TechCons. He holds several patents related tocoatings and coating equipment. He has been an active member of SVCsince 1994 and has participated on the Web TAC and assisted in getting moreEuropean presentations and participation at TechCon.

Ludvik Martinu is Professor and Head of the Department ofEngineering Physics at École Polytechnique de Montréal, where he has beensince 1988. His main research interests are the physics and technology ofthin films, specifically new plasma-based fabrication processes, materials,characterisation techniques, and process control for optical and functionalcoatings, hard films, and thin film photonic devices. He is founder anddirector of the Functional Coating and Surface Engineering Laboratory andof the Laboratory for Optical and Mechanical Metrology at ÉcolePolytechnique and author and co-author of more than 230 publications, fivepatents, and numerous invited lectures. He has been very active in the SVC,where he serves on the Board of Directors and as Assistant Program Chair,Optical TAC Chair, and Chair of the Student Sponsorship Committee.

Carlo Misiano served for many years as the director of CeTeV, aresearch and development institute near Rome. He has made a greatnumber of significant contributions over the entire field of coatings, fromweb and packaging to precision optics. He is widely respected and has beena regular contributor to the SVC for many years. He recently retired fromCeTeV and now operates a small independent research laboratory, RomanaFilm Sottili, which is involved in a variety of research projects. In 1994 hecreated a series of bi-yearly conferences in Italy, the Symposium of EuropeanVacuum Coaters, which he still organizes. Not only is Carlo a major figure inthin films but he writes and publishes poetry in the Roman dialect, is anaccomplished musician, a classical scholar, and has written and directed anumber of theatrical plays.

The Sugerman and Mentor Awards provide SVC members with anopportunity to recognise those who have contributed to our Society and ourtechnology. Soon, the Awards Committee will be soliciting nominees for the2006 awards. Please take the opportunity to recommend those whom youbelieve have made a difference.

David Glocker, Isoflux Incorporated ([email protected]) is the SVC AwardsCommittee Chair.

SVC Honors Excellence and Contribution

session. In his talk on nanostructured coatings,Moore showed a systematic investigation,wherein coatings containing Ti-B-C-N wereproduced using unbalanced magnetronsputtering and pulsed bias. By varying processparameters, he showed the influences on thecoating hardness (up to 40 GPa) friction coeffi-cient as well as the H/E (Hardness/ElasticModulus) ratio. Another presentation from theColorado School of Mines was made by JenniferAnton, who investigated the influence of thesubstrate position of sputtered TiC films.Variations in deposition rate, mechanical proper-ties, and structure of the coatings as function ofdistance and angle of incidence were discussed.Gary Doll, of the Timken Company, held a talk onthe behavior of rolling element bearings withtribological coatings. He addressed theimportance of life-time investigations under lowlubrication situations, which cannot be preventedin engine applications. An important examplewas shown to be in aerospace applications, butsimilar situations, though less critical, occur also

in engines used daily. Coatings are playing amajor role in the lifetime of critical, high-reliability engine and driving parts. Anotherapplication-oriented talk came from André Hiekeof Ionbond, who discussed PVD/PECVD combina-tion processes, where comparisons were made onthe properties of WCC-DLC coatings producedwith MF-PVD/PECVD processes and pure PECVDcoatings produced with RF. The talk by MarkusEsselbach of Balzers addressed machine-relatedeffects of upscaling a DLC process. He showedthat by using a bigger machine size, the cost perpart is reduced. The effects of upscaling onetching uniformity and DLC layer uniformitywere presented.

The sessions on Tuesday addressed processresearch, coatings for tools, and decorativecoatings. The morning session began with aninvited talk from Jan-Dirk Kamminga of theNetherlands Institute for Metal Research inDelft, who showed the properties, especially theperformance with respect to adhesion, of hardcoatings produced with the Nitrocoat process.This is a duplex process that combines plasmanitriding with in situ coating. Guido Janssen ofDelft University talked about a model explaining

the tensile and compressive stress in hard films.His model explains the existence of a stressgradient in the film from tensile at the interfaceto compressive at the top of the film. AldersonNeira from University del Valle in Santiago deCali (Colombia) discussed the application of PVDhard coatings on HSS tools. Coatings improvedthe cutting performance of circular paper cuttingknives with respect to the lifetime of the knives.Coatings enabled higher throughput in thisapplication. A major quality achievement of thiscoating application was the decreased cuttingedge roughness as well. Papken Hovsepian ofSheffield-Hallam University presented results ofTiAlN/VN superlattice coatings in machiningaerospace and automotive Al and Ti alloys. Thiscoating shows superhardness (46 GPa) and lowfriction due to the formation of lubriciousvanadium oxides, resulting in low cutting forcesand therefore low surface roughness in cuttingoperations on the aforementioned alloys. RaviLakkaraju of the University of Nebraskacontinued with a more fundamental modellingstudy. In his talk, finite element calculations foroptimization of wear-resistant multilayered thinfilms were presented. The stress-strain behavior



within the individual layers of the multilayered coating is used to optimize thethickness of each individual layer. Reliable predictions will save cost in thecoating design. First results of the calculations were verified empiricallyagainst coatings produced. Jolanta Klemberg-Sapieha of the ÉcolePolytechnique in Montreal talked about the standardization project on hardnessmeasurements the university is involved in. This international project (VAMAS)deals with standardization of characterization techniques, especially hardnessmeasurements, for superhard coatings (hardness values exceeding 40 GPa).The presentation initiated a lively discussion, emphasizing the existence of aneed for good material analysis methods.

The invited paper for Papken Hovsepian was the start of the decorativecoating presentations. This presentation was a joint paper from Hauzer andSheffield-Hallam University. Hovsepian talked about progresses in large-scalemanufacturing of decorative PVD coatings, which assumed large proportionssince the last decade due to the use of high-volume batch coaters leading to lowcoating cost per part, produced by arc as well as sputtering technology. Plasticsas well as metals can be coated with short cycle time and in a wide color range.Developments in Sheffield have led to the introduction of combined PVD sputtercoating and subsequent anodizing of Nb, which makes it possible to producehigh quality, biocompatible color finishes based on optical interference effects.Vasco Teixeira from the University of Minho in Portugal, initiator of the PVD-forum on the Internet, talked about decorative Ni and Cr-based PVD coatingsdeposited by magnetron sputtering at room temperature. He presentedinfluences of different parameters on the microstructure and surface roughnessfor low temperature sputtered metal coatings on plastics, serving as an interfacefor subsequent colored hard coatings. Pedro Carvalho, a student from theUniversity of Minho, gave a presentation on structural, electrical, mechanical,and optical characterization of zirconium oxynitride coatings. The Spanishcompany AIN, represented by José Garcia, made a presentation on decorativeinterference coatings produced with arc technology, enabling a new range ofcolors. Analysis results of thickness measurements with GDOES (GlowDischarge Optical Microscopy) were related to spectrometric color measure-ments to show the relation between wavelength of the color and thickness ofthe oxide layer. The sessions were closed with a presentation by Roel Tietemafrom Hauzer. The range of TiCN-based colors that can be achieved withsputtering and arc evaporation was addressed. It has been shown that bothtechnologies will give similar colors, but because of cost, arc technology issuperior for this application.

Roel Tietema, Hauzer Techno Coating b.v., The Netherlands ([email protected]), is theTribological and Decorative Coating TAC Chair; Gary Doll, Timken Research([email protected]), is the Assistant TAC Chair.

Vacuum Web Coating

This year there were two sessions of presentations dedicated solely to VacuumWeb Coating along with other web coating presentations in the joint sessions onProcesses, Materials & Systems for Flexible Electronics & Optics and alsoPlasma Processing of Webs.

The first of these two sessions was opened with talks describing equipmenton the latest multiprocess roll-to-roll web coater from Applied Films andfollowed by a description of the use of dual magnetrons as a plasma source in aplasma-enhanced CVD process from the Fraunhofer Institute (FEP) in Dresden.A talk from C.A. Bishop Consulting & McCann Science was then presented thatdescribed the modelling of the changes to be expected in heat transfer coeffi-cient when gas is introduced between the drum and web. The latter half of thesession was filled with presentations relating to transparent barrier typecoatings and the measurement of them. This topic remains of great interest

because of both the difficulty of producing the best of the barriercoatings and also the challenge of measuring them. The first of thesewas about the outgassing and permeation studies of polymer substratesand barrier films from Technolox Ltd. We then had two most welcomepapers from Japan. A presentation on the new development of heatsterilization durable SiOx vacuum coated film from Mitsubishi Plasticswas followed by a second presentation on water vapor permeation studiesof metal oxide/polymer coated plastic films from Toyobo C. Ltd.

The second session got off to a great start with a presentation byAWA BV that put some of the markets in perspective on the developmentof global markets for vacuum coated films and papers. This presentationalso highlighted, a fact we often neglect: just how much coating is doneonto substrates other than polymer webs? This was followed by anexcellent presentation from one of the SVC sponsored students on theinfluence of the polyester substrate on the structure and performance ofvacuum deposited coatings. We then returned to the topic of permeationstudies of multilayer films from Oxford University. We then had a changeof emphasis with copper on polyimide films by vacuum web sputteringsystem for tape carrier package from Toray Saehan Inc from S. Korea. Tofinish off the session, a presentation came from NREL on the durabilityand cost analysis of solar reflective hard-coat materials deposited byIBAD. For those of us that have watched the progress of this topic foryears, this was the great news that finally the problems seem to be solvedand a process chosen that can meet all the requirements for thiscomplex multilayer product and production can finally begin.

So once again we had a good mix of presentations with a slight focuson the hot topic of the age: how to produce and measure barrier coatings,which is very likely to remain of interest at the TechCon next year.

Charles A. Bishop, C.A. Consulting Ltd. ([email protected]) isthe Vacuum Web TAC Co-Chair; Peter Moulds, Ursa International Corporation([email protected]) is the Vacuum Web TAC Co-Chair (outgoing); andGregory Tullo, Arcotronics-Aerre Machines ([email protected]) is theVacuum Web TAC Co-Chair (incoming).

“Overall the show was excellent, very well organized.Everything seemed seamless from our side, though I knowit is not that easy. Thanks for all the efforts by you and

your staff. This was the best organized show yet.”John Madocks, General Plasma, Inc.

Introduction

Since John Bardeen, William Shockley, and Walter Brattain invented the world’s first transistor in 1947,inorganic field-effect transistors have dominated the mainstream microelectronics industry. They arethe fundamental building blocks for basic analytical circuits (such as amplifiers) as well as the keyelements for digital combinational logic circuits (such as adders, shifters, inverters, and arithmetic logicunits), and are used to build sequential logic circuits (such as flip-flops). Moreover, transistors areessential to the modern memory devices, integrated circuits, and microprocessors used in personalcomputers and laptops.

Organic thin film field-effect transistors (OTFTs) are particularly interesting, as their fabricationprocesses are much less complex compared to conventional Si technology, which involves high tempera-ture and high vacuum deposition processes and sophisticated photolithographic patterning methods. Ingeneral, low temperature deposition and solution processing can replace more complicated processesinvolved in conventional silicon technology. In addition, the mechanical flexibility of organic materialsmakes them naturally compatible with plastic substrates for light-weight and foldable products. Sincethe report of the first organic field-effect transistor in 1986 [1], there has been great progress in boththe materials performance and development of new fabrication techniques. OTFTs have already beendemonstrated in promising applications such as electronic papers [2-4], sensors [5,6], and memorydevices such as radiofrequency identification (RFID) cards [7,8]. Although OTFTs are not meant toreplace conventional inorganic TFTs—(due to the upper limit of their switching speed), they have greatpotential for a wide variety of applications, especially for new products that rely on their unique charac-teristics, such as electronic newspapers, which can be bent and folded, inexpensive smart tags forinventory control, and large-area flexible displays.

This talk describes the basic materials requirements and fabrication methods for building thesedevices, and discusses the related technical issues and challenges. Promising applications of OTFTs arealso discussed.

Operation and Materials

An OTFT is analogous to its inorganic counter-part in basic design and function. It is a three-terminal device, in which a voltage applied to agate electrode controls current flow between asource and drain electrode under an imposedbias. A basic schematic is shown in Figure 1,where Vg and Vds are the applied gate and source-drain voltages, respectively. The control ofsource-drain current in field-effect transistors viaa third terminal has resulted in their widespreaduse as switches. Their utility in this capacity isgauged by several key measures of their perform-ance. The mobility, µ, describes how easilycharge carriers can move within the active layerunder the influence of an electric field, and istherefore directly related to the switching speedof the device. This parameter can be extractedfrom current-voltage measurements, and wouldideally be as large as possible. Typical valuesrange from 0.1–1 cm2/Vs for amorphous-Si (�-Si)devices, with the best organic materials achievingmobilities of 1–10cm2/Vs [9,10]. The on/off ratio,defined as the ratio of the current in the “on” and“off” states, is indicative of the switchingperformance of OTFTs. A low off current isdesired to eliminate leakage while in the inactivestate. Ratios as high as 106, suitable for mostapplications, can be reached by current-genera-tion OTFTs [11-12].

In an organic transistor, the active layer is

comprised of a thin film of highly conjugatedsmall molecules or polymers, such as p-channel[13-15], pentacene [9,16], �-sexithiophene (�-6T) [17], and poly-3-hexylthiophene (P3HT) [18-21], or n-channel [22-25], BBL [26,27], and F16-CuPc [28]. In contrast to the inorganicmaterials, organics pass current by majoritycarriers, and an inversion regime does not exist.This fundamental difference is related to thenature of charge transport in each of thesesemiconductors. In well-ordered inorganics (e.g.,single-crystal silicon), the delocalization ofelectrons over equivalent sites leads to a band

original contributed articles - svc.orgrecording media; this was a big subject at svc meetings 12...

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