AJA Instructions

Revised Anders L, Sebastian A, 2011-01-19

Always sputter with substrate holder loaded! Otherwise you sputter on glass in front of heaters, coating it.
Do not clean anything with Acetone unless you dry it very carefully. Acetone is difficult to pump out of chamber. Use IPA instead.
Always leave load-lock pumped when substrate holder is loaded.
Rotation must always be on when heating holder.
Make sure the matching network is set to Auto during RF sputtering.

Make sure that the load-lock valve is closed.
Vent the load-lock by switching off the load-lock turbo pump.
At 7×10² Torr, you can take out the sample holder. Do not try to open it earlier. Put the load-lock cover back while you are mounting your sample.
After mounting your sample put the sample holder onto the transfer fork. Check that the mark on the sample holder is in the correct position.
Pump down by switching on the load-lock turbo pump.
Wait for vacuum. Vacuum should be at least in the 10^-5 — range and the turbo should be at full speed (1500 Hz).
Make sure the rotor is elevated to 30 and that rotation is off.
Open valve.
Carefully insert transfer rod. If you feel a resistance, retract rod and increase height of sample holder if necessary.
Lower the rotor. When the propeller has gone into the sample-holder cutouts, rotate the propeller into position (approx. 1/4 turn clockwise) and lift the sample holder to 30. The position where the propeller can be rotated into position is normally at 40 but this can vary depending on how the holder is positioned on the fork. Make sure you are not pushing down on the transfer fork. Watch what you are doing through the window.
Check for no wobble by starting rotation. Make sure the sample-holder is elevated to 30 first.
Remove rod.
Close valve.
Lower the sample-holder to the deposition position (45 is standard).
Wait for vacuum.

Make sure that the temperature of the sample holder is below 150 °C.
Check that the rotor is elevated to 30 and that rotation is off.
Check that the vacuum in the load-lock and the main chamber is below 10^-5.
Open valve.
Insert transfer rod.
Lower the sample holder onto the fork. Rotate the propeller (counterclockwise) and lift it back up to 30. The position where the propeller can be rotated is normally at 40 but this it can vary depending on how the holder is positioned on the fork.
Remove rod. Make sure the sample-holder is elevated to 30 first.
Close valve.
Vent the load-lock by switching off the load-lock turbo pump.
Remove your sample and put the sample holder back into the load-lock.
Switch on the load-lock turbo pump

Close the viewing-window shutter carefully by rotating the knob clockwise. This shutter can get stuck if rotated too far in either direction. The system then has to be vented and pumped down again. This takes an entire day.
Check sample-holder position. 45 is normal.
Turn rotation on (maximum is standard)
Set temperature if you are using substrate heating. Wait.
Open Argon-flow. 25 sccm is standard.
Press pressure and set the strike pressure. (30 mTorr is standard).
Make sure the shutter is closed (target shutter)
Start plasma at P less than 50 W (standard for DC: 5% = 34 W, for RF: 10% = 30W). Never forget to ramp the power. Maximum power without ramping is 50 W. Maximum ramp speed is 100 W/minute. Despite of this, always ramp the power even if you are using powers below 50W.
If plasma is stable set the working pressure (normally 3 mTorr)
Slowly ramp up power to desired level (be conservative! Do not use high power settings (P more then 150W) unless you know what you are doing!)
Optional: pre-sputtering for a few minutes.
Start deposition by opening the shutter.
Deposit!
Close shutter.
Ramp down the power and then shut it down. (Same ramping rules as for ramp-up)
Close gas flow and open the gate valve to the turbo.
Turn off heating and wait for the sample to cool down below 150 °C if you are using heating.
Turn off rotation.
Unload.

Sebastian Andersson, Anders Liljeborg Nanostructure Physics, KTH.