Reactive Sputter Deposition 2024

Welcome

The International Symposium on Reactive Sputter Deposition was established in Ghent in the year 2000. It provided a platform among leading international scientists, engineers and students for discussing recent achievements in reactive sputter deposition and thin films.
The Symposium has developed to an annual tradition, steadily growing without loosing its focus on reactive sputtering and its fundamental aspects. The symposium covers the production and use of coatings, from basic research to devices and new applications.
The past years the RSD symposium was organized by Austrian, Belgian, British, Czech, Dutch, German, French, and Swedish research groups and was held in Ghent (BEL), Delft (NL), Leoben (AUT) , Manchester (UK), Linköping (SWE), Paris (FR), Pilzen (CZ), Braunschweig (GER). Last year it was organized in Leipzig (GER).
This year, the RSD symposium resides back in its birth town and tries to revive its roots of concept: bringing new trends in reactive magnetron sputter deposition in combination with lectures discussing the fundamental issues related to this wonderful technique. The latter lectures are invited, and start with an introduction on the topic. This enables students to learn more about these topics. For the senior scientists these lectures will blow off the dust. In this way, every attendee can enjoy each session, and discuss about the shown results in an active way. Hence, at this symposium science becomes even more fun!

Dates

The RSD conference will take place on Thursday December 12th and Friday December 13th. The short course on reactive sputtering will take place on Wednesday 11th. We will open the registration page as soon as possible. The abstract deadline is November 15th, 2024 (5 pm CET).

Venue

The venue will be the "St-Peter's abbey" located in Ghent. Saint Peter's Abbey (Dutch: Sint-Pietersabdij) is a former Benedictine abbey in Ghent, Belgium, now a museum and exhibition center. You can find more details about this historical place on Wikipedia.

Abstract submission

The abstract deadline is November 15th, 2024 (5 pm CET). To submit your abstract, first download the abstract template (Word document). Read carefully the guidelines regarding the abstract format. Rename the document as John_Doe_RSD2024.docx, i.e. first and last name of the presenting author. Mail the abstract before the deadline to Diederik.Depla@ugent.be. Indicate in your mail if the abstract is intended as an oral or a poster contribution.

Due to the limited number of available slots for oral presentations, some papers will be shifted to the poster sessions. Although the scientific content is the primordial selection criterion, the abstract selection for oral contributions will also be based on date of submission, number of abstracts submitted by one research team, and the geographical location of the submitting research institute(s). Research teams submitted multiple abstracts can assist the organizing committee by discussing internally the presentation type for each abstract.

Invited speakers

The conference will start with a plenary talk on "Plasma behavior in pulsed magnetron and new trends for plasma excitation" (download PDF) by colleague Tiberiu Minea (Université Paris-Saclay, Laboratoire de Physique des Gaz et des Plasmas)

We are pleased to have the following invited speakers aboard:

Short course

Course objectives

• Understand the fundamental processes driving (reactive) magnetron sputtering
• Develop strategies for dedicated experiments to unravel the complexity of reactive magnetron sputtering
• To get a good overview of the current literature and modelling techniques.

Course description

Reactive magnetron sputter deposition is a mature technique often used in laboratories and at industrial level to grow compound thin films. The growth of these films is defined by the deposition conditions, and therefore a good knowledge of the deposition process is essential to tune the growth and as such the film properties.
After a short introduction on the physics of sputtering, the magnetron discharge and the transport of sputtered atoms through the gas phase, the course starts with a few definitions regarding reactive sputtering to show that the processes driving this technique are general applicable. This introduction assists the attendee to the next step : the description of the most common experiment during reactive magnetron sputtering, the hysteresis experiment. The simplicity of this experiment fools initially the scientist because it hides a complex interplay between different processes that define the actual outcome of the experiment. During the course, the details of this experiment are analyzed, and modelling is used to guide the attendee. In this way, the attendee will gain knowledge in a wealth of important process controlling the film growth. A good knowledge of these processes will arm the attendee to analyze and to control the reactive sputtering process.

Course Content

Who should attend?

This course is intended for engineers, scientists, and students interested in reactive sputter deposition and its applications.

Course materials

Slides of the lecture will be provided together with a copy of the handbook “Magnetrons, reactive gases and sputtering”.

Practical

The short course will take place at Soleras Advanced Coatings. Bus transportation will be organized from Ghent and back. After the short course, the attendees will have the opportunity to join the company tour.

Short course registration

The number of attendees will be restricted to 25. The registration includes a printed version of the lecture slides, a copy of the short course handbook, and lunch break.

Regular subscription : 200 €

PhD student subscription* : 100 €

* A proof must be provided.

Registration

Registration is open. The following link will bring you to the registration page. Please note if you register as PhD student, you'll need to provide a proof by a separate mail. It is advisable to first contact Diederik.Depla@ugent.be to check the eligibility.

The registration fee includes access to the conference venue, lunch breaks, reception and conference dinner).

A separate subscription fee is required to join the short course. As the number of seats is limited, you first need to contact Diederik.Depla@ugent.be. If your request is approved, you will receive a separate registration link. The link is personal and it is useless to transfer to colleagues.

Regular subscription : 450 €

PhD student subscription* : 250 €

* A proof must be provided.

Company visit

Conference attendees will have the opportunity to visit Soleras Advanced Coatings on Wednesday evening, just before the start of the RSD conference. If desired own transport can be used to get to Soleras (E3-Laan 75, 9800 Deinze), however bus transportation will be organized from Ghent and back.

This is a unique opportunity for getting an inside look at one of the larger worldwide players providing magnetron sputtering solutions. They are recognized as a technology leader in the field of rotatable magnetron and cylindrical target research and developments. These and new capabilities of (reactive) sputter process control will be showcased.

Exhibition

During RSD2024 there will be an exhibition where the attendees can talk with experts in the field regarding sputter technology. The following companies will be presented (just click on the logo to learn more).

Sponsors

The organizing committee wish to express their gratitude to the following sponsors:

Organizing committee

Code of Con­duct

By registering for and attending RSD2024 we all agree to conduct ourselves in a professional manner.

We will respect everyone regardless of their age, race, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, marital status, nationality, political affiliation, health, caring responsibilities, physical appearance, disability or educational background. Furthermore, we will also avoid language and behavior which reinforces discrimination or repression based on any of these attributes.

We will refrain from any form of discrimination, harassment or retaliation. This can include intimidating behavior or language, inappropriate jokes or comments, unwanted attention, stalking or the display of offensive images.

 If you feel unhappy or uncomfortable with the conduct of others at RSD2024, please contact any of the organizers. Your comments will be taken seriously and acted upon in confidence. If you do not treat others with the respect and tolerance that we all deserve, you may be asked to leave.