title: High-rate automated deposition system for the manufacture of complex multilayer coatings.
abstract: A previously described automated thin-film deposition system based on rf-magnetron sputtering could deposit quite complex optical multilayer systems with good precision and with no one in attendance [Sullivan and Dobrowolski, Appl. Opt. 32, 2351-2360 (1993)]. However, the deposition rate was slow, and the uniform area on the substrate was limited. We describe an ac-magnetron sputtering process in which the same deposition accuracy has been combined with significantly better film uniformity and a fivefold or sevenfold increase in the deposition rate. This makes the equipment of commercial interest. Experimental results are presented for several difficult coating problems.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Microstructural Sciences, National Research Council of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: B T
authors.initials: BT
authors.lastname: Sullivan
authors.forename: G A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Clarke
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Akiyama
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Osborne
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ranger
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Dobrowolski
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Howe
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Matsumoto
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Song
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kikuchi