James S. Cooper

Plasma sputtering system for deposition of thin film combinatorial libraries

The design of a plasma sputtering system for the deposition of combinatorial libraries is described. A rotating carousel is used to position shadow masks between the targets and the substrate. Multilayer films are built up by depositing sequentially through various masks. Postdeposition annealing is used to promote interdiffusion of the layered structures. Either discrete or compositional gradient libraries can be deposited in this system. Samples appropriate for characterization with a scanning electrochemical microscope or a multichannel microelectrode array system can be produced. The properties of some deposited Pt–Ru films for fuel cell applications are described.