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arXiv · 2609.17220

A transfer-rod-mounted rotatable sample holder enabling a compact modular vacuum system for ion-beam milling, oblique magnetron sputtering, and co-sputtering

Tiago de Oliveira Schneider·Folke Kaiser·Andreas Semrad·Peter Kießlich·Markus Meinert
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Abstract

We present a novel multifunctional sample-holder concept for compact research-scale vacuum systems. The sample holder is mounted directly on the transfer rod and remains mechanically connected to it throughout loading, transfer, deposition, and ion-beam milling. In contrast to conventional layouts, no handover to a separate substrate stage is required. By combining axial transfer motion, rotation around the transfer-rod axis, and independent substrate rotation, the holder itself defines the relevant process geometries and enables standard deposition, oblique deposition at freely selectable incidence angles, substrate rotation, and co-sputtering from adjacent sources. A shielding plate integrated into the sample holder acts as both a substrate shutter and a source shield. This reduces the need for separate shutter mechanisms and allows a compact radial arrangement of four 2-inch magnetron sputter sources without source-tilting mechanisms. The concept was implemented in a modular vacuum system assembled from standard DN100CF components, combining a load lock, magnetron sputtering, and ion-beam milling. The system reaches a base pressure of $5 \cdot 10^{-8}\,\mathrm{mbar}$ without bakeout. The functionality of the sample-holder concept is validated by oblique deposition of Ta/CoFeB bilayers, which exhibit pronounced uniaxial in-plane magnetic anisotropy, and by co-sputtering of an Au--Ag composition series, whose resistivity follows the expected Nordheim-type composition dependence.

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Tiago de Oliveira Schneider, Folke Kaiser, Andreas Semrad, Peter Kießlich, Markus Meinert. 2026-09-15. A transfer-rod-mounted rotatable sample holder enabling a compact modular vacuum system for ion-beam milling, oblique magnetron sputtering, and co-sputtering. https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.17220

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