Fabrication of metallic magnetic nanostructures by argon ion milling using a reversed polarity planar magnetron ion source

Hindmarch, A.T.; Parkes, D.E.; Rushforth, A.W.

doi:10.1016/j.vacuum.2012.02.019

Fabrication of metallic magnetic nanostructures by argon ion milling using a reversed polarity planar magnetron ion source

Hindmarch, A.T.; Parkes, D.E.; Rushforth, A.W.

Authors

Dr Aidan Hindmarch a.t.hindmarch@durham.ac.uk
Associate Professor

D.E. Parkes

A.W. Rushforth

Abstract

We demonstrate that a planar magnetron may be used as a source of ions for milling micro- and nanostructured devices. Reversing the polarity of the magnetron head, in combination with applying a voltage bias to the thin-film sample, allows acceleration of ions produced in the Ar glow-discharge to energies suitable for pattern transfer via etching. We have fabricated generic Hall-bar and nanowire L-bar structures from sputter deposited Ta/Ni/Ta trilayer films grown onto clean GaAs(001) surfaces. No degradation of the magnetic properties or contamination of the deposition chamber vacuum are observed, demonstrating that this method is effective for etching magnetic device structures patterned by both optical and electron-beam lithography techniques.

Citation

Hindmarch, A., Parkes, D., & Rushforth, A. (2012). Fabrication of metallic magnetic nanostructures by argon ion milling using a reversed polarity planar magnetron ion source. Vacuum, 86(10), 1600-1604. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vacuum.2012.02.019

Journal Article Type	Article
Publication Date	Apr 1, 2012
Deposit Date	Mar 15, 2012
Publicly Available Date	Jun 26, 2012
Journal	Vacuum
Print ISSN	0042-207X
Publisher	Elsevier
Peer Reviewed	Peer Reviewed
Volume	86
Issue	10
Pages	1600-1604
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vacuum.2012.02.019
Keywords	Argon ion milling, Microfabrication, Lithography.

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Copyright Statement
NOTICE: this is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication in Vacuum. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in Vacuum, 86, 10, 2012, 10.1016/j.vacuum.2012.02.019