Summary for sputter etching stainless steel Discussion
Sputter etching of stainless steel is discussed as a way to remove about 1 micrometer from stainless steel samples, but the excerpt only shows the question and not any posted answers. Jyothi Jambu asks whether stainless steel can be etched by sputtering to that thickness and how to do it. Because no response text is included in the source provided, there is no documented guidance here on process settings, feasibility, or equipment choice. The page therefore reads as an unanswered technical question rather than a completed solution thread. Any practical recommendation would need to come from the missing answers or from separate process data on sputter etching stainless steel.
March 19, 2013
Q. Can I etch stainless steel samples using sputtering method, to thickness of 1micrometer? How?
Jyothi Jambu
– Bangalore, Karnataka, India
 | A. Yes, you can. Put the parts in a vacuum chamber, backfill with argon to ~10 mTorr, and apply a negative bias to the parts until you see a glow around the parts. How long it takes depends on a number of factors, including part geometry and surface condition.
A. In principal it is possible. In practice it depends on what exactly you want and why. H.R. Prabhakara – Consultant |
March 29, 2013
Q. I have to do texture on SS-304; it has to be 1 micron and I am interested to use DC magnetron unbalanced sputtering system. Just with Ar etching or any reactive gas I have to use for creating texture? How much time I have do?
Shall I know detail how I have to do?
Jyothi Jambu
– Bangalore, Karnataka, India
A. Magnetron sputtering is used to deposit, say SS, onto some other material. Here SS acts as cathode or target and is eroded in the process. The erosion would not not be uniform in general. Strong magnets are used close to the (SS) target which is water cooled. Generally cathodes are not the end products in magnetron sputtering. But your primary interest is in the sputtering target. It important to know the geometry and other properties of the target as well as the erosion pattern you want to generate. This is an unusual application and needs to be looked into in detail.
H.R. Prabhakara – Consultant
Bangalore Plasmatek – Bangalore Karnataka India
April 2, 2013