Hi Evelyn.  I have some experience with deposition of BST, but not
specifically on MgO substrates.  I can tell you that the main reason
that most people use PLD is because you can control the deposition and
subsequent concentration of each of the components.  Another reason is
that PVD targets are very difficult to have made.  We had a lot of
problems with cracked targets and quality control with the composition
of the targets themselves.  I think this is probably because of the
ceramic nature of the material.  However, I will tell you that the films
we were able to make were of very good quality when every little thing
went right, even better than the PLD process we eventually went to.

Best Regards,
Dustin Warren

EV Group
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Application Engineer - Direct: +1 (480) 305 2447, Main: +1 (480) 305
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E-Mail: D.Warren@EVGroup.com, Web: www.EVGroup.com


-----Original Message-----
From: Evelyn B [mailto:benabe@mail.usf.edu]
Sent: Friday, March 06, 2009 4:03 PM
To: General MEMS discussion; Evelyn Benabe
Subject: [mems-talk] PLD Vs RF Sputtering Deposition of BST Films

Hi,

I have been doing a little bit of literature research about deposition
of BST-5 films on MgO substrates and have found that most the films are
deposited using Pulsed Laser Deposition (PLD) systems instead of RF
Sputtering.  I was under the understanding that RF sputtering was
superior
than PLD because it provides smoother surfaces, better uniformity,
higher
breakdown voltage, and lower losses.  Why is PLD then chosen as the
deposition method for MgO substrates?

Evelyn