Substrates and Wafers for Magnetic and Ferroelectric Film Growth

In recent years, the development of electronics has been progressing towards the direction of high integration, lightweight and compact size, multi-function, and high frequencies. This encourages the demand for the miniaturization of magnetic and ferroelectric components which originally occupy large volume and weight capacities in electronic equipment, such as inductors, transformers, and ferroelectric memories.

Ferromagnetic Thin Films refer to films with nanoscale thicknesses made from ferromagnetic and ferrimagnetic materials (e.g. Garnet Ferrite, R1-xAxMnO3 oxides, FeCrCo/FeN, etc.), which exhibit nonlinear magnetization with the applied external magnetic field. Ferromagnetic thin films could be utilized as thin-film magnetic recording media, thin-film magnetic heads, thin-film noise suppressors, and planar thin-film resistors.

Ferroelectric Thin Films are films of miniature thicknesses (from dozens of nanometers to several microns) made from ferroelectric materials (PT, PST, PZT, LBO/LTO, h-YMnO3, etc.), which will exhibit spontaneous polarization, and its polarization direction can be reversed due to the reversal of the direction of the external electric field under a certain temperature (Curie Temp.). The application fields of ferroelectric thin films are wide, including piezoelectric sensors and rf filters/tunable applications in microwave electronics, and ferroelectric random access memories ( FRAM).

Functional thin films are grown on substrates to make the handling and integration process more convenient. The nature of the substrate is shown to have a considerable effect on the crystal structure, phase composition, and electrical parameters of the prepared thin films. The substrates should have good thermal, chemical, and mechanical ruggedness to ensure the longevity of the devices, in addition to excellent lattice-matching with the film material, and minimum strain generated in the process of preparing the film. The microwave loss and dielectric properties of the substrate material will also affect the performance of the functional thin film.

We offer stock and custom Substrates and Wafers for Ferroelectric and Magnetic thin film growth made of various materials. The shape, size, thickness, and other specifications of the substrate can be tailored according to customs’ requirements.