A production quality radio-frequency sputter deposition system will be used collaboratively by three separate engineering laboratories to support experimental exploration of the properties of various thin film structures useful in data storage and micro- electronics, and to develop specialized micro-miniature sensors and control devices. A common theme of the proposed research is to achieve sufficient fundamental understanding of plasma deposition processes to develop novel thin film technologies. The understanding will be achieved by analyzing the relationships among various deposition process parameters and significant optical, magnetic, electrical and mechanical properties of the sputtered films. The principal system application will be deposition of magneto-optical Kerr effect media by sputtering thin films of rare earth-transition metal alloys.
