ARGUS 54 - Optical Sputter Coater Vacuum Process Technology LLC Dr. Keqi Zhang & Ralph Faber May 1, 2013
Motivations: Offer a deposition tool for optical coating industry that combines the advantages of both e-beam evaporation (large area, fast rate) and IBS deposition (stable process, higher film quality). Approaches: Plasma enhanced pulsed DC magnetron sputtering Basic concept is based on a 54-inch chamber with a planetary system that contains six 16-inch planets.
Key Performances / Features: Sputtered deposition of multilayers of metals, and metal oxides Large area, fast deposition rate 6 x 16-inch planets Rate: Ta 2 O 5 / Nb 2 O 5 : 5Å/s, SiO 2 : 6Å/s Uniformity: typical ±1.0%, goal: ±0.5% Thickness control Standard: quartz crystal, time power Optional: through-the-planet optical monitoring (Single Wavelength or Broad Band)
Optical Sputter Coater Pulsed DC ion / plasma enhanced Materials: Ta 2 O 5 /SiO 2 Very stable and repeatable process: Deposition rate: 5.0Å/s --- Ta 2 O 5 6.0Å/s --- SiO 2
Optical Sputter Coater
Single layer Ta 2 O 5, 5.0 Å/s
Single layer SiO 2, 6.0Å/s
Single layer uniformity across a 16-inch planet: < ±1%
Uniformity of a LP filter across a 16-inch planet (spectrally measured)
Uniformity of a LP filter across a 16-inch planet (Normalized)
550nm Longpass Filter, 30 layers
Coating examples : 72-layer SP (Ta 2 O 5 /SiO 2, 5.7µm) Backside uncoated
Coating examples : 37-layer GFF (Ta 2 O 5 /SiO 2, 3.8µm) Backside uncoated
Coating examples: 14-layer BBAR (Ta 2 O 5 /SiO 2 )
Coating examples: 10-layer Dual-band AR (Ta 2 O 5 /SiO 2 )
Coating examples: 58-layer IR cut filter (Ta 2 O 5 /SiO 2 )
IR Cut Filter Made by a Competitor’s Coater
Coating examples: IR cut filter Argus’54 Competitor’s
Coating examples: 104-layer WB(Ta 2 O 5 /SiO 2, 7.9µm)
Coating examples: 224-layer WB(Ta 2 O 5 /SiO 2, 23µm)
Coating examples: 80-layer WB(Ta 2 O 5 /SiO 2, 7.1µm) Backside uncoated
Coating examples: 52-layer Longpass(Ta 2 O 5 /SiO 2, 3.0µm) Backside uncoated
Current status: Optical properties: excellent Absorption: low Scattering: low Mechanical properties Dense, durable film Film stress: 230 – 300MPa, compressive Film uniformity Less Than ±0.5% on a 16-inch planet High throughput; unparalleled process stability
Platform Comparison
Products and Applications for the Argus Optics System