CONTROL OF MECHANICAL AND STRUCTURAL-PROPERTIES OF COATINGS DEPOSITEDUSING UNBALANCED MAGNETRONS

This paper briefly describes the principles of operation of unbalanced magnetron sputtering systems and indicates how film structure and pro perties can be controlled by controlling the deposition parameters. Tw o examples are described: firstly control of the structure, grain size and preferred orientation of fully dense copper films; secondly, cont rol of the hardness, critical load and wear resistance of titanium nit ride films. In both cases, it is shown that unbalanced magnetrons can be used to manufacture coatings of exceptionally high quality.