Materials Science Forum, Vol.426-4, 3475-3480, 2003
TiNi thin films for microactuators and microdevices: Sputter deposition and processing techniques
Commercial sputtering systems, capable of simultaneous sputtering from up to three 200 mm targets, made it possible to obtain reasonable control of TiNi thin film deposition process. Further improvement of the composition control had become possible by sputtering TiNi from the DC target assembly with rotating magnets. After the crystallization anneal typical micromachining process of deposited film includes patterning, etching and releasing of an active part of the actuator. Developed procedures maintain both high quality of the film and perfect adhesion of anchor places to the substrate. A technique for making three-dimensional devices (cylinders, cones) from a film deposited onto a flat substrate has been developed for manufacturing freestanding thin film devices.
Keywords:thin film;TiNi;shape memory alloys;transformation temperature;sputtering;target;substrate;microactuator