High-rate automated deposition system for the manufacture of complex multilayer coatings.
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.
Sullivan
B T
BT
Institute for Microstructural Sciences, National Research Council of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
Clarke
G A
GA
Akiyama
T
T
Osborne
N
N
Ranger
M
M
Dobrowolski
J A
JA
Howe
L
L
Matsumoto
A
A
Song
Y
Y
Kikuchi
K
K