HIGH-POWER GENERATORS FOR MEDIUM FREQUENCY SPUTTERING APPLICATIONS

By using a sine-wave generator with a dual magnetron system (DMS), suc cessful reactive sputtering of insulating thin films is possible at po wer levels of 100 kW and above. Results obtained from laboratory exper iments and several installations in flat glass coating production line s shows the advantages of this new process. The requirement for 3.6 m long dual cathodes has led to the development of generators with power levels to 100 kW for continuous operation. Such system; have now been proven in actual production lines, over many weeks, under industrial conditions. Typical operating frequencies of the generators range from 20 to 80 kHz depending on the target materials and the process condit ions. With this new technique materials such as SiO2, TiO2, SnO2 and A l2O3 have been sputtered with great success, The following paper descr ibes the system design of a medium frequency generator and the experim ental results achieved with dual magnetron sputter systems operating a t power levels up to 130 kW in metallic and reactive sputter mode. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.