Substrate Biasing

The ability to apply bias to a substrate provides a variety of benefits to a physical vapor deposition process. Applying a bias in the presence of a partial pressure of gas creates a localized plasma at the surface of the substrate. Prior to deposition, this plasma can be used to pre-clean, oxidize, or gently etch a substrate in preparation for the soon-to-be deposited film. During deposition, this plasma can provide gentle ion bombardment to improve film density, adhesion, and material reactivity.

Depending on the substrate and deposition material, either DC or RF power can be used to provide the bias. For non-conductive substrates, we recommend an RF bias which is available as standard on all of our deposition stages.