SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR FORMING MAGNETIC NANOCOMPOSITE MATERIALS

Abstract

A method of fabricating a film of magnetic nanocomposite particles including depositing isolated clusters of magnetic nanoparticles onto a substrate surface and coating the isolated clusters of magnetic nanoparticles with an insulator coating. The isolated clusters of magnetic nanoparticles have a dimension in the range between 1 and 300 nanometers and are separated from each other by a distance in the range between 1 and 50 nanometers. By employing PVD, ablation, and CVD techniques the range of useful film thicknesses is extended to 10-1000 nm, suitable for use in wafer based processing. The described methods for depositing the magnetic nanocomposite thin films are compatible with conventional IC wafer and Integrated Passive Device fabrication.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Referring to the figures, wherein like numerals represent like parts throughout the several views:

FIG. 1A is a cross-sectional side view of a PVD magnetic nanocomposite material;

FIG. 1B is a top view of the PVD magnetic nanocomposite material of FIG. 1A;

FIG. 1C is a cross-sectional side view of an aggregated PVD magnetic nanocomposite material;

FIG. 1D is a top view of the aggregate PVD magnetic nanocomposite material of FIG. 1C;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional side view of an aggregate PVD magnetic nanocomposite material after four cycles of the sequence shown in FIGS. 1A-1D;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of the apparatus for the combined PVD-CVD deposition of a magnetic nanocomposite material;

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of the apparatus for the deposition of a magnetic nanocomposite material from carbonyl precursors;

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of the apparatus for the deposition of a magnetic nanocomposite material from ion cluster beam;

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of the apparatus for deposition of a magnetic nanocomposite material by ablation; and

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of the method for fabricating a film of magnetic nanocomposite particles, according to this invention.

Claims

1. A method of fabricating a film of magnetic nanocomposite particles comprising: depositing isolated clusters of magnetic nanoparticles onto a substrate surface;coating said isolated clusters of magnetic nanoparticles with an insulator coating; andwherein said isolated clusters of magnetic nanoparticles have a dimension in the range between 1 and 300 nanometers and are separated from each other by a distance in the range between 1 and 50 nanometers.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein said depositing and coating are repeated until a desired film thickness is achieved.

3. The method of claim 2 further comprising measuring said film thickness.

4. The method of claim 2 wherein said film thickness is in the range between 10 and 1000 nanometers.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein said isolated clusters of magnetic nanoparticles are deposited via a physical vapor deposition (PVD) process.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein said isolated clusters of magnetic nanoparticles are coated with an insulator via chemical vapor deposition (CVD) process.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein said isolated clusters of magnetic nanoparticles are coated with an insulator via PVD process.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein said insulator coating comprises a thickness in the range between 1 and 30 nanometers.

9. The method of claim 1 further comprising aggregating said isolated clusters of magnetic nanoparticles before said coating.

10. The method of claim 9 wherein said aggregating comprises thermally annealing said deposited isolated clusters of magnetic nanoparticles.

11. The method of claim 9 wherein said aggregating comprises irradiating said deposited isolated clusters of magnetic nanoparticles with a light source selected from a group consisting of lasers and UV light sources.

12. The method of claim 1 wherein said magnetic nanoparticles comprise materials selected from a group consisting of Fe, Ni, Co, NiCo, FeZn, borides of these materials, ferrites, rare-earth metals, and alloy combinations thereof.

13. The method of claim 1 wherein said substrate is selected from a group consisting of fused silica, oxidized silicon, quartz, silicon, GaAs, GaN, high temperature glass, alumina, silicon nitride, silicon carbide, semiconductor materials, refractive insulators, and organic printed circuit board materials.

14. The method of claim 1 wherein said insulator coating comprises material selected from a group consisting of SiO2, Si3N4, Al2O3, oxides, ceramics, polymers, ferrites, and combinations thereof.

15. The method of claim 1 wherein said insulator coating comprises organic material selected from a group consisting of epoxies, Teflon®, and silicones.

16. The method of claim 1 wherein said depositing and said coating occur simultaneously and in the same reactor.

17. The method of claim 1 wherein said isolated clusters of magnetic nanoparticles are deposited via sputtering a target comprising a magnetic material.

18. The method of claim 1 wherein said isolated clusters of magnetic nanoparticles are deposited via CVD.

19. The method of claim 18 wherein said magnetic nanoparticles are formed by decomposing carbonyl precursors of said magnetic material via electromagnetic radiation.

20. The method of claim 1 wherein said isolated clusters of magnetic nanoparticles are deposited via an ion cluster beam (ICB) deposition process.

21. The method of claim 1 wherein said depositing of isolated clusters of magnetic nanoparticles comprises ablating said magnetic nanoparticles from a target comprising a magnetic material and condensing said magnetic nanoparticles onto said substrate surface.

22. The method of claim 21 wherein said magnetic nanoparticles are ablated from said target by electromagnetic radiation selected from a group consisting of lasers, UV light, Radio Frequency (RF) waves and microwaves.

23. The method of claim 22 wherein said ablated magnetic nanoparticles are ionized by a particle beam selected from a group consisting of electron beam, ion beam, and molecular beam.

24. The method of claim 21 wherein said target is rotated during said ablation.

25. The method of claim 21 wherein said substrate is rotated during said deposition.

26. The method of claim 21 wherein said coating of said isolated clusters of magnetic nanoparticles with said insulator coating comprises ablating particles of said insulator from a target comprising said insulator and condensing said insulator particles onto said magnetic nanoparticles and said substrate surface.

27. The method of claim 26 wherein said ablating of said magnetic nanoparticles and said ablating of said insulator particles occur simultaneously in the same reactor.

28. The method of claim 1 wherein said depositing is enhanced by a magnetic field or electric field.

29. The method of claim 1 wherein said coating is enhanced by an electric field or magnetic field.

30. An apparatus for fabricating a film of magnetic nanocomposite particles comprising: equipment for depositing isolated clusters of magnetic nanoparticles onto a substrate surface;equipment for coating said isolated clusters of magnetic nanoparticles with an insulator coating; andwherein said isolated clusters of magnetic nanoparticles have a dimension in the range between 1 and 300 nanometers and are separated from each other by a distance in the range between 1 and 50 nanometers.

31. The apparatus of claim 30 further comprising equipment for measuring the thickness of said film.

32. The apparatus of claim 30 wherein said deposition equipment comprises a physical vapor deposition (PVD) reactor.

33. The apparatus of claim 30 wherein said coating equipment comprises a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) reactor.

34. The apparatus of claim 30 wherein said coating equipment comprises a PVD reactor.

35. The apparatus of claim 30 further comprising equipment for aggregating said isolated clusters of magnetic nanoparticles before said coating.

36. The apparatus of claim 35 wherein said aggregating equipment comprises equipment for thermally annealing said deposited isolated clusters of magnetic nanoparticles.

37. The apparatus of claim 35 wherein said aggregating equipment comprises equipment for irradiating said deposited isolated clusters of magnetic nanoparticles with a light source and said light source is selected from a group consisting of lasers and UV light sources.

38. The apparatus of claim 30 wherein said magnetic nanoparticles comprise materials selected from a group consisting of Fe, Ni, Co, NiCo, FeZn, borides of these materials, ferrites, rare-earth metals, and alloy combinations thereof.

39. The apparatus of claim 30 wherein said substrate is selected from a group consisting of fused silica, oxidized silicon, quartz, silicon, GaAs, GaN, high temperature glass, alumina, silicon nitride, silicon carbide, semiconductor materials, refractive insulators, and organic printed circuit board materials.

40. The apparatus of claim 30 wherein said insulator coating comprises material selected from a group consisting of SiO2, Si3N4, Al2O3, oxides, ceramics, polymers, high resistivity ferrites, organic materials, epoxies, Teflon®, silicones and combinations thereof.

41. The apparatus of claim 30 wherein said deposition equipment and said coating equipments are comprised in the same reactor.

42. The apparatus of claim 30 wherein said deposition equipment comprises a sputtering reactor.

43. The apparatus of claim 30 wherein said deposition equipment comprises a CVD reactor.

44. The apparatus of claim 43 wherein said magnetic nanoparticles are formed by decomposing carbonyl precursors of said magnetic material via electromagnetic radiation.

45. The apparatus of claim 30 wherein said deposition equipment comprises an ion cluster beam (ICB) deposition reactor.

46. The apparatus of claim 30 wherein said deposition equipment comprises equipment for ablating said magnetic nanoparticles from a target comprising a magnetic material and equipment for condensing said magnetic nanoparticles onto said substrate surface.

47. The apparatus of claim 46 wherein said ablating equipment comprises an electromagnetic radiation source selected from a group consisting of lasers, UV light, Radio Frequency (RF) waves and microwaves.

48. The apparatus of claim 47 wherein said deposition equipment further comprise equipment for ionizing said ablated magnetic nanoparticles.

49. The apparatus of claim 48 wherein said ionizing equipment comprises a particle beam source selected from a group consisting of electron beam, ion beam, and molecular beam.

50. The apparatus of claim 46 wherein said target is rotated during said ablation.

51. The apparatus of claim 46 wherein said substrate is rotated during said deposition.

52. The apparatus of claim 46 wherein said coating equipment comprises equipment for ablating particles of said insulator from a target comprising said insulator and equipment for condensing said insulator particles onto said magnetic nanoparticles and said substrate surface.

53. The apparatus of claim 52 wherein said ablating of said magnetic nanoparticles and said ablating of said insulator particles occur simultaneously in the same reactor.

54. The apparatus of claim 30 wherein said deposition equipment further comprise a source for a magnetic field or electric field.

55. The apparatus of claim 30 wherein said coating equipment further comprise a source for an electric field or magnetic field.