Magnetron sputtering, combined with an accurate control of process parameters and layer quality, has become one of the most important methods for depositing thin films. However, this coating technique applied to planar target magnetrons suffers from some shortcomings (such as limited target utilization and low deposition rate) making it often sub-optimal for industrial purposes. Furthermore, the recent introduction of complex coating stacks for advanced automotive, architectural and display applications has put over more stringent requirements on the deposition process. The controlled (i.e. uniform and reproducible) reactive sputter process of thin metal oxide/nitride films on large area or high volume products, while efficiently handling arcing and anode problems, is one of the major present challenges.

In this paper, the rotating cylindrical magnetron will be presented as the basic approach to deal with each of the problems mentioned above. By implementing new improvements to the magnet configuration of this magnetron concept, target utilization levels of more than 90% are feasible. In addition, local tuning of the magnetic field strength allows accurate layer thickness control over the substrate width. In comparison to standard planar magnetrons, much higher sputter yields may be achieved relative easily with both single and double racetrack designs. The superior properties of the rotating cylindrical magnetron in reactive sputtering become obvious after incorporating new technological developments. The arcing problem may be virtually eliminated, allowing DC reactive sputtering of most oxides and nitrides without the need of pulsing or AC switching. On the other hand, in a standard AC switching configuration, the anode functionality is quite limited for planar magnetrons because of the inhibiting magnetic field whereas cylindrical magnetrons have a much larger magnetic field free and total effective surface.

Surface treatment by fast heating is a process that can induce important tribological and mechanical properties modifications on metals and alloys. The production of high-energy pulse plasmas with this purpose (plasma interaction with the surface of the material) presents additional benefits: firstly, the possibility of inclusion of active species (by the use of plasmas of nitrogen, carbon, etc.) in the surface during the processing and secondly, the induction of a fast heating-cooling cycle due to the pulsed nature of plasmas. Such a fast-pulsed plasma irradiation of surfaces can be considered as composed by the two simultaneous processes of "thermal shock" and "ion implantation".

Z-Pinch experiments can produce pulsed plasmas and ion beams of 100 to 400 ns time duration with a spectral law dN/dE~E^-3.5 (number of ions N with energy E), with E in the range of 20-500 keV. A study of temperature evolution of substrates irradiated with this type of plasmas showed a heating rate of 15 K ns^-1, temperature gradients of around 1500 K μs^-1, and surface peak temperatures that can be adjusted from several hundred of K to values higher than 3000 K.

We developed a compact Z-Pinch module of 30 cm x 30 cm of section, 1 meter length and a 45 kg weight, operated in a repetitive mode (5 Hz) with a charging voltage of 20 kV. The module was designed to allow its easy and fast disassembling and assembling for repairing or adapting purposes. Also, the design allows its easy mounting in any vacuum reaction chamber to be used in the surface treatment of different pieces and parts, being possible its combination with other modules of similar characteristics, distributed around and along specially designed chambers.