Glancing angle deposition on a roll: Towards high-throughput nanostructured thin films

Increasing the throughput of the powerful single-step glancing angle deposition (GLAD) method using a prototype simplified roll-to-roll (R2R) system has been explored. While the conventional GLAD technique is popular for fabricating nanostructured devices in a single deposition step, it is not a high-output process. To evaluate the feasibility of large area GLAD deposition, the authors examined the geometrical considerations required to eventually achieve GLAD in a roll-to-roll manufacturing system. Nominal deposition and rotation angles were mathematically translated to their effective R2R counterparts, allowing for deposition recipes of the archetype GLAD nanostructures (slanted posts, vertical posts, and square spirals) and the mechanics of the phi-sweep technique to be converted to this space. Representative structures were then deposited, and the phi-sweep technique successfully applied, in a prototype single barrel roller R2R experimental system. This prototype system provides a foundation for moving GLAD from the laboratory to mass production. (C) 2013 American Vacuum Society.