Investigation of a Possible Material-Saving Approach of Sputtering Techniques for Radiopharmaceutical Target Production

Alisa Kotliarenko,Giorgio Keppel,Juan Esposito,Cristian Pira,Oscar Azzolini

doi:10.3390/app11199219

Alisa Kotliarenko, Giorgio Keppel + Show 3 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/app11199219

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Abstract

Magnetron sputtering (MS) is a relatively new deposition technique, which is being considered among the cyclotron solid target (CST) manufacturing options now available, aiming at the medical radioisotopes yield for radiopharmaceutical production. However, the intrinsic high material losses during the deposition process do not permit its use with extremely expensive target materials, such as isotopically enriched metals/oxides. In this study, R&D technology for a new recovering shield is instead proposed to assess the dissipation of target material during the sputtering processes and, thus, an estimate of the material recovery that may be feasible and the related amount. The weight-loss analysis method is used to assess the material losses level inside the chamber during processing. In all tests carried out, a high-purity copper (99.99%) was used as a target material. As a result of this study, the material distribution for both magnetron and diode sputtering depositions can be calculated. The feasibility of the ultra-thick coatings growing, devoted to CST production, is demonstrated.

Highlights

Magnetron sputtering (MS) technology is a well-known technique, which has found many different applications in various industrial sectors, where the deposition of a new, special layer is needed [1]
In order to overcome such an issue, in the experiments performed, the working distance was reduced to 2 cm
The material dissipation in the MS and diode sputtering (DS) deposition processes was evaluated by using a weight-loss analysis

Summary

Introduction

Magnetron sputtering (MS) technology is a well-known technique, which has found many different applications in various industrial sectors, where the deposition of a new, special layer is needed [1]. Due to its intrinsic advantages, such as the high-purity layer deposition and thickness control, it has become a technique of interest in many advanced scientific areas, such as the microelectronics field [2]. MS allows the creation of a precise control on reactive processes with high repeatability, starting from a pure metal. It allows better film densification compared to other techniques, such as evaporation [3,4]. For many industrial applications, materials are usually inexpensive and are not required to be extremely pure, as in the case of wear resistive coatings [5]

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