ICMCTF1998 Session G1-2: Innovations in Thin-film Manufacturing Processes (2)

Monday, April 27, 1998 1:30 PM in Room Town & Country

Monday Afternoon

Start	Invited?	Item
1:30 PM		G1-2-1 Surface Modification of Powder Particles by Plasma Deposition of Thin Metallic Films H. Kersten (University of Greifswald, Germany); G.M.W. Kroesen (Technical University of Eindhoven, The Netherlands) In the present study we characterize a process for coating powder particles with a close and compact surrounding layer by magnetron sputtering during the confinement of the particles in an RF plasma. Powder particles which are injected into an RF plasma acquire a negative charge. Due to this charging effect the micro-sized particles are trapped offering the possibility of their modification. During their confinement near the sheath edge iron particles are treated by a planar magnetron source. As a result, a continous flux of deposition material (aluminum) is ejected towards the powder particles and is deposited there as thin surrounding film. The influence of powder injection and magnetron operation on the plasma parameters has been determined by Langmuir-probes and self-excited electron resonance spectroscopy as well as by potential measurements. The ion component was characterized by energy-resolved mass spectrometry. The deposition process was studied for several magnetron discharge parameters (power, pressure, distance). The particle and energy fluxes from the target and the plasma, respectively, towards the powder particles have been estimated by calorimetry. These fluxes determine essentially the layer properties of the modified powders, which have been investigated by surface analysis like scanning electron microscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. From the investigations it can be concluded that there is a perspective for coating powder particles with compact metal layers by magnetron sputtering during their trapping in a weak RF plasma. However, the yield of modified powder is rather low and has to be increased for reasonable industrial application.
1:50 PM		G1-2-2 New PVD Applications by Inside Coating with Magnetron Sputter Ion Plating M. Feldhege, I. Rass (EUROMAT GmbH, Germany); T. Leyendecker, St. Esser, G. Erkens (CemeCon GmbH, Germany) Magnetron sputtering is among the most important PVD processes, a technology that becomes increasingly important for applying thin film coatings. While the industrial application of these technologies has been limited to outside coatings, newly developed rod-shaped cathodes make inside coatings with uniform thickness and perpendicular film growth possible. In that way a new field of applications can be opened for the propitious qualities of PVD technologies. The paper describes a technology to produce inside coatings by magnetron sputter ion plating (MSIP) with rod shaped cathodes and illustrates new applications like coating of outer bearing rings or hydraulic cylinders. Investigations were carried out which show the suitability of this process for coatings in aluminum engine block cylinder bores. Grey cast iron liners in aluminum motor blocks could be substituted by inside-coating the cylinder bore surface with MSIP-hard coatings. Some of the investigated coatings showed excellent wear- and corrosion resistance and had good sliding properties in a wide temperature range. The surface outline (cross hone structure) of the cylinder bores could be exactly prevailed even after coating the surface.
2:10 PM		G1-2-3 YBCO Layers Produced by Pulse Magnetron Sputter Technology V. Kirchhoff, E. Hegenbarth, T. Kopte, R. Bluethner (Frauenhofer Institut Elektronenstrahl- und Plasmatechnik, FEP, Germany) Ten years after the discovery of high-temperature super-conductors (HTSL) the first products are on the market and for further applications layers have been tested and qualified. Many of these applications, e.g. in high-frequency technology, sensor technology and cryoelectronics, require highly-textured HTSL-coatings. The deposition of c-axis orientated YBCO thin layers by means of Pulsed-Magnetron-Sputter (PMS) technology will be discussed. PMS technology has already been successfully applied to the large-area coating of glass and foils, as it is an micro arc free reproducible process with long-term stability. The coatings were carried out with two 380mm long rectangular targets in Dual-Magnetron-Sputter-System arrangement (on-axis) and a mobile substrate heater. The medium frequency voltage (50 kHz) was supplied by a sine-wave generator. The targets were bonded ortho-rhomboid YBCO sheets. The coatings were characterized by means of Tc (magnetic) and for same selected samples by critical current density. Also plus investigations using scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction techniques. That the desired coating characteristics could be achieved on both single and polycrystalline substrates demonstrates the uniqueness of the PMS technology to deposit high-quality YBCO layers.
2:30 PM		G1-2-4 Markets and Technologies of Large Area Coatings on Glass in Japan K. Suzuki (Consultant, Belgium) Although the demands for high performance coatings, which normally require a greater number of layers and/or thicker layers, on large area glass and plastic substrates, is evident under the recent ecological and environmental pressures, the available technologies to produce such coatings at low cost, so far, have been limited. However, the recent innovative coating technologies, such as “Pulsed Magnetron Sputtering and Plasma Activated Deposition” in vacuum coating and “ Sol-Gel Coating based on nano- technology” in wet coating, are dramatically changing the situation and making various high performance coatings feasible on large area substrate at a reasonable cost. Considering the importance of finding the best solution for the market requirement, the above technologies must also be compared by way of feasible cost and performance. In this paper, the potentials and capabilities of the above technologies to be used to produce optically selective multi-layer coatings for architectural, automotive and display applications in Japan, are discussed taking into account the difference in market maturity and location
2:50 PM	Invited	G1-2-5 Modern Multistage Cleaning Lines for Industrial Coating Applications M.G. Ertl (ECE, Germany); R. Hohl (UCM, Switzerland) The success of PVD-coating is highly dependant upon the degree of cleanliness of the substrate surfaces to be coated. The increasing industrial application of PVD-coating in job-coating and mass-production demands high requirements in performance of the cleaning technology used. Process and production security in PVD-coating requires reproducible surface cleanliness I.e. practically residue-free and particle-free surfaces for a wide range of production goods. As a well established solution to these problems the method of "aqueous cleaning with ultrasonic support and final drying" is presented. The mechanisms of cleaning, the chemistry including the full importance of tensides, the effects of ultrasound and its parameters of influence are discussed. An applicable solution is presented for practical realization as a multistage INLINE cleaning line, designed using modular techniques. This type of installation allows high flexibility for a wide range of products and applications of various process technologies. Interesting solutions for the reduction of water consumption despite high throughput and some more economical data are shown on some examples.
3:30 PM		G1-2-7 Stationary High-Rate Large Substrate Coating with Double Ring Magnetron Sputtering in Different Pulse Modes H. Bartzsch, P. Frach, K. Goedicke, Chr. Gottfried (Frauenhofer Institut Elektronenstrahl- und Plasmatechnik, FEP, Germany) For a great variety of thin film deposition tasks, the Double Ring Magnetron has been established as a very powerful tool for stationary sputter deposition. This type of sputter source combines high deposition rates and layer uniformity on large substrates up to 8" (200 mm) diameter. The design of the Double Ring Magnetron (DRM) with electrically insulated separate targets allows both the precise control of the deposition process and different modes of operation. The deposition of electrically conducting elements, alloys, and compounds can be carried out in dc mode. Insulating compounds can be sputtered reactively using unipolar or bipolar medium frequency pulse techniques. Layers with defined composition, gradient layers or multilayer stacks can be produced by only one DRM source. The unipolar and bipolar pulse techniques will be compared to each other, with respect to process stability, deposition rate, layer properties and thermal substrate loads. The sputter system including control units and process technology, can be utilized in the fields of microelectronics, optical coatings, recording media, micromechanics and sensor technology. In addition, the DRM can be operated in the RF mode at the users discretion.
3:50 PM		G1-2-8 High-Rate Deposition of Abrasion Resistant Oxide Layers on Plastics N. Schiller, M. Neumann, H. Morgner, S. Straach, M. Krug (FhG-FEP, Germany); R.E.M. Wilberg, M. Falz (VTD, Germany) For the high-rate coating of plastics with abrasion resistant oxide layers a plasma or ion assisted deposition process is necessary to achieve dense, glassy layers with the required abrasion resistance. To deposit thick abrasion resistant layers at low cost, deposition rates of more than 100 nm/s are necessary. For such high rates adapted plasma densities and ion current densities of about 30 mA/cm² are necessary. This can be achieved by our Hollow-Cathode Activated Deposition process (HAD process). The Hollow-Cathode Activated Deposition process (HAD process) will be described for the SiO₂ deposition by reactive EB evaporation of quartz and for the Al₂ O₃ deposition by reactive boat evaporation of aluminum. The relevant properties of the SiO₂ and Al₂ O₃ layers on plastic sheets or films will be reported and the potential applications will be discussed. High Taber abrasion resistance and microhardness values of 3 MPa (SiO₂ ) or 6 MPa (Al₂ O₃ ) allow the application as protective layers for coated plastic films (e.g. solar control, antireflective, decorative), for plastic sheets (e.g. for automotive windows, safety windows, plastic roofs), and for other plastic parts. Finally, technical and economic data, including productivity and coating costs will be discussed for coating of plastic films and sheets.
4:10 PM		G1-2-9 Properties of SiC-based Films Prepared in Multimode Plasma System J. Brcka (AXIC, Inc.); I. Hotovy (Slovak University of Technology, Slovak Republic) The diversity of the plasma process applications is requiring great flexibility of instant plasma system. As the cluster tools in high volume production a system modularity of small equipment has become an important feature in a R&D and low volume production environment. The multimode plasma system with variable electrode set-up and its characterization is described. The voltage properties of various electrode configurations are described. There are described system utilization for PECVD of SiC-based films and the results on their properties studied by RBS and thermal probe methods. The purpose of experiments was to test potential capability of the simple, low cost but process effective plasma system for implementation in PECVD applications involving design improvements and modifications.
4:30 PM		G1-2-10 The Next Generation of Deposition Equipment for Wear Protection Coatings E. Bergmann (Ecole d'Ingenieurs de Geneve, Switzerland); B. Buil, T. Hurkmans, G. van der Kolk (Hauzer Techno Coating Europe B.V., The Netherlands) Current deposition equipment has been designed largely as a compromise between the emission characteristics of the vapor sources and the shape and quantities of the parts to be coated. Conditioning equipment was then added to adapt the equipment to the process requirements - resulting in twin or triple chamber load lock systems or walls covered with inefficient radiation heaters. Efficient equipment for job coating requires a different approach, which must start from an overall optimisation of the system with respect to the requirements of the complete process. Its design must include all conditioning steps required from the start. Among the key requirements for job coating equipment we find: short cycle time, versatile loading, conditioning and coating processes, that lead to a coating quality, which does not depend on the constitution of the batch. The equipment presented is the first of a family of machines designed according to those principles. Its conditioning steps match the performance of modern heat treatment furnaces and its new plasma flow vapor sources have been developped to fit the equipment - not vice versa. The design of these sources allows the deposition of ion plated hard coatings essentially free from macro particle contamination or the deposition of sputtered coatings with a degree of vapor ionisation and substrate plasma density never obtained with conventional unbalanced magnetrons. They also offer the possibility of efficient low pressure thermochemical treatment and integrated Duplex processes.
5:10 PM		G1-2-12 The Reconcilliation of the Competing Brothers Mr. CVD and Mr. PVD Hardcoating P. Fernandez (BERNA AG) When introduced 30 years ago, CVD was the first technology to provide a coating process that revolutionized the machining industry. Like the previous introduction of cemented carbides, CVD brought a valuable solution to tool wear problems which allowed to dramatically increase machining parameters. The arrival of the PVD technology about 20 years ago, with its lower coating temperature, was considered a thread to the CVD technology. Indeed, PVD coatings have shown spectacular yearly growth rate and today they command an important share of the market. Nevertheless, this has occurred mostly not at the expenses of the CVD coated tools, but at the expenses of previously uncoated tools, whose market share is steadily declining. There are of course some applications where CVD and PVD are competing against each other, and also against other technologies such as ion implantation. When examining the competitive situation objectively, it must also be considered that there is a wide range of different CVD equipment, as there is a wide range of PVD equipment, each with their own specific characteristics. Because CVD and PVD technologies have their own features, the choice of one or the other is guided by technical as well as by economical criteria. Our goal is to demonstrate their complementarity, which can be optimally used when one single company can offer both technologies to their customer, who can be the tool manufacturer or the end user. The end user does not care whether the gold coating has been deposited by a chemical or a physical process. He just wants the best coating at the best price for the tool. The same reasoning is valid for coated components. Not only the PVD but also the CVD technologies are subject to intensive research and development activities in order to further increase coating performance and reliability but also to reduce costs. Both technologies can look ahead to a fine future.