Dual chamber ion beam sputter deposition system

摘要

A dual chamber deposition system comprising two ion beam sputtering (IBS)deposition chambers connected by a wafer handler chamber for depositions of multilayer thin film structures with improved process throughput. Reactive ion beam sputtering depositions and metal layer depositions on a substrate may be carried out in separate IBS deposition chambers while maintaining vacuum conditions throughout the process. A process for ion beam sputter deposition of spin valve (SV) magnetoresistive sensor layers having an AFM layer formed of NiO where reactive sputtering deposition of the NiO is carried out in a separate IBS deposition chamber from the subsequent metal layer depositions improves system throughput while maintaining SV sensor performance.