Plasma Sputtering

Cressington 108 Sputter Coater [SOP]
Available Targets: Gold

A simple and easy-to-use sputter coater for making samples surface’s more conductive for SEM imagery. A vacuum pump is attached to the sputter coater to achieve vacuum conditions and argon is used as the inert chamber gas. A full calibration has not yet been done on the sputter coater, but the thickness of samples is often changed by varying the time of the sputter.

Principle

Sputter coating a sample involves introducing argon gas into the chamber which is then ionized. Argon ions then impact the target (in this case, gold), causing them to eject and deposit onto the sample, resulting in a thin, uniform metallic layer.

Applications

Gold sputter coating is often used in sample preparation for SEM imaging. Non-conductive samples can build up charge in the SEM which prevents proper imaging of the sample. A gold surface coating provides a path for the electrons to ground. However, parts that are coated in gold can be harder to perform EDS on.