MPAS
Our MPAS (Microwave Plasma Assisted pulsed DC Sputtering) system offers a drum based disruptive technology, providing low temperature high-throughput sputter deposition processes. ​​
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Gases are introduced into the chamber for control of target sputtering and monolayer microwave post processing. Drum rotation speed, typically 50-60 RPM is such that one to two monolayers are deposited per pass across the magnetron target with microwave reactive plasma available for post treatment of deposited monolayer.​​
In addition MPAS provides enhanced thin film performance e.g. control of coating surface adhesion to temperature sensitive substrates, hardness, stress control, low temperature processing, single and multilayer deposition and co-deposition of two or more materials. MPAS offers performance enhancement in a wide range of non and reactive thin film sputter deposition processes for research, development and production usage.
Thickness/deposition control is achieved by one of three methods:
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Power and time
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Quartz Crystal Monitoring, option (Inficon IC6)*
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Optical Monitoring, option (Intellemetrics JL570-02 (400-1100nm optical range) *Available as an option
MPAS Key Features
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MPAS provides room temperature deposition, no need for separate heaters
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Multi-sputter targets provides means to separately deposit adhesion promoting coatings, single material coating deposition and/ or co-deposition of two different coatings materials including metals and/ or oxides .
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Microwave plasma (2.45GHz) provides high efficiency ionization and plasma reactivity compared with other plasma technologies such as DC & RF. Different reactive gases introduced into the microwave plasma can be used to form a variety of durable coating compounds such as oxides, nitrides, carbides at room temperature.
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Separate deposition & microwave plasma processing regions provide use of microwave plasma for effective pre-preparation of deposition chamber (esp. water vapour removal which can disrupt coating processes) and substrate microwave plasma pre-clean prior to deposition
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Control system provides single layer or multilayer deposition.
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MPAS pump configuration – turbo with cryocooler
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Optical gas control for reactive deposition processes (option)
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Flexibility in coating stoichiometric control through variation in microwave plasma conditions and gas composition, nano-structural modification & control through combination of pulsed DC/ plasma control
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MPAS co-deposition providing simultaneous deposition of two or more materials resulting in mixed and/ or graded materials
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MPAS hydrogenated processes provide method for material bandgap and optical absorption modification
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MPAS provides one axis vertical drum configuration
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One axis drum floats electrically and ion energy controlled by gas flow)