Designing a Substrate Heater for Thin-Film Deposition in High Vacuum

Abstract

This thesis outlines the design of a custom substrate heater for use in physical vapor deposition of laboratory thin films. Traditional substrate heaters bring a substrate to temperature through a reliance on the conductive heat transfer of a single side of the substrate. Within a vacuum this mode of heat transfer suffers, due to the imperfectly mated conductive surfaces of the substrate and heater. In contrast, this design sandwiches the substrate between two heaters to provide both the traditional conductive heat as well as radiative heat transfer from the opposing heater. In combination with an intricate insulating structure, which off-the-shelf heaters do not generally provide, this design can efficiently bring substrates to a more uniform temperature, which results in the growth of a higher-quality thin film. It also accommodates an integrated heat-sink to quickly cool the substrate and deposition for handling, despite the insulating materials.