Sputtering Coating with Pulsed Carrier Gas for Higher Deposition
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing gas flow sputtering methods face challenges in achieving high deposition rates without requiring powerful vacuum pumps to maintain low pressures, as increased carrier gas velocities lead to material loss and scattering.
Innovation Solution
Modulating the carrier gas flow with intermittent peaks, maintaining an average flow rate while increasing the flow during specific intervals, combined with synchronized or asynchronous electrical power modulation, to enhance deposition efficiency.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If the carrier gas flow is increased to increase the deposition rate, then the deposition rate increases, but the vacuum pump power requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies periodic action by modulating the carrier gas flow in pulsed cycles, alternating between high flow phases (increasing deposition rate) and low flow phases (reducing vacuum load). This temporal modulation allows the system to achieve high average deposition rates while the vacuum pump only needs to handle the lower average gas load, not the peak flow requirements
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically adjusts the carrier gas flow rate over time rather than maintaining a constant high flow. The flow rate is varied according to a modulation pattern that optimizes deposition during high-flow phases while allowing the vacuum system to recover during low-flow phases, creating a dynamic balance between deposition rate and vacuum maintenance
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The method achieves higher deposition rates on the substrate without increasing the average gas flow velocity, reducing material loss and maintaining optimal vacuum conditions.
Implementation Method 1
a vacuum chamber which is evacuated by a vacuum pump
Implementation Method 2
a plasma is produced from atoms of the carrier gas in the area of the target
Implementation Method 3
The ions of the plasma dissolve particles out of the solid material of the target
Implementation Method 4
In plasma coating according to the sputtering principle, also referred to as 'sputtering', a solid, referred to as a target, is evaporated, which solid can be a metal, for example, thereby producing a plasma to deposit particles of the solid on a substrate, thereby coating the substrate
Data Source
AI summary
There is a method for surface coating using a plasma coating device. The plasma coating device has a vacuum chamber; at least one sputtering source arranged in the vacuum chamber with a target of a solid material; a substrate to be coated; and at least one carrier gas source opening into the vacuum chamber. The method has the following steps: evacuating the vacuum chamber and supplying a carrier gas stream from the carrier gas source to the target such that a plasma with ions from atoms of the carrier gas is produced. The plasma ions dissolve particles out of the solid material of the target, and the dissolved particles are supplied to the surface of the substrate. The carrier gas stream is discontinuously supplied to the target of the sputtering source by modulating the gas flow of the carrier gas stream.