Deposition of Tantalum Films with an Open-Ended Vacuum System

Tantalum thin film circuit techniques developed at Bell Telephone Laboratories 1 can produce resistor and capacitor circuit elements and associated interconnections. Such tantalum film circuits have high stability and good reliability, superior to that of discrete components with their multiple interconnections. 2 The Western Electric Company has developed a continuous openended vacuum system for deposition of these tantalum films. This system provides for the passage of substrates through a sequence of chambers which vary in pressure from atmospheric pressure to high vacuum and then back to atmospheric pressure. The design of this system and the details of its operation have been previously reported. 3 This open-ended system has advantages for quantity deposition of thin films. All vacuum chambers remain at their operating pressures; no time is lost pumping down prior to deposition. Work chambers need not be exposed to room atmosphere and possible contamination. Degassing 127 128 T H E B E L L SYSTEM TECHNICAL J O U R N A L , JANUARY 1964