Title : Production of high-quality CuNi thin films using magnetron sputtering
Abstract:
Cu-Ni alloys are widely used in mining and metallurgical work, in the chemical industry due to their high resistance to corrosion, mechanical and catalytic properties. Furthermore, Cu-Ni alloys have received much attention for their thermophysical and magnetic properties and are also used for decorative purposes. They are applied to valves, hardware, condensers and heat exchangers, due to their excellent thermal and electrical properties and are particularly resistant to bio-contamination. CuNi alloys are normally manufactured by electrolytic processes. In recent years, interest in making films using less polluting process than electrolytic baths have increased considerably. However, the commercial electrodeposition of these alloys in cyanide baths as an example produces high quality deposits, but environmental problems arise in the use and disposal of this component. The use of plasma technologies for the deposition of thin films has been studied and, despite being a more complex and costly technology, it has the advantage of generating practically no waste.
There are many techniques to generate plasma. In this work plasma equipment generated by magnetron sputtering will be used. From the bibliographic review, it could be observed that there is not much research on the properties of thin films of binary CuNi alloys produced by plasma technologies. The aim is to investigate thin films composed of metal alloys produced by plasma and to be able to obtain the parameters of the process so that a stable, homogenous and reproducible thin film will be obtained.
We start with the production of an alloy Cu-Ni (70-30) produced by vacuum arc remelting process, so we obtained the targets that are going to be used in the magnetron sputtering, then using a high vacuum magnetron sputtering process with a flux of argon we obtained a Cu-Ni thin film deposited in a glass substrate, finally this thin film is characterized by SEM.
Audience take-away:
- Explain how the audience will be able to use what they learn?
They can extrapolate the information learn in this presentation so they can apply and replicated in similar alloys for the production of thin films, using magnetron sputtering is going to be a more environmentally friendly process compared to normally use electrolytic baths. - How will this help the audience in their job? Is this research that other faculty could use to expand their research or teaching? Does this provide a practical solution to a problem that could simplify or make a designer’s job more efficient? Will it improve the accuracy of a design, or provide new information to assist in a design problem?
- The audience that are not in touch with this technology can learn a new process for thin film production.
- This is a more environmentally friendly process so the audience can obtain thin films that before were produced by electrolytic baths.
- This is a novel process that, so far, has not been used in this alloy so there is a high potential for new materials production with this technique.
