MN-FD / Metallic Nanoparticle Fabrication & Deposition in Vacuum

DC magnetron sputtering (DC MS) is widely used for the deposition of thin metal films on large areas at low substrate temperatures. Innovation-el offers access to a unique DC-MS system for the simultaneous fabrication and deposition of metallic nanoparticles and thereby, to the production of self-assembled nanoparticle films. In brief, a high purity metallic target is sputtered via Argon ions, thus producing airborne nanoparticles that soft-land on top of a deposition substrate. This is a high vacuum technique that allows control over nanoparticle size (roughly 1-10 nm) and nanoparticle density, by modifying specific fabrication parameters (i.e. target to substrate distance and deposition time respectively). Pt, Ag and Au are only some of the materials currently available. Being a room-temperature technique, a plethora of different substrate-materials other than silicon (e.g., polymers, bio-materials, etc.) can be also integrated in the fabrication process.