Continuous magnetron sputtering coating production line: Advanced thin film deposition technology leads the industry development

Continuous magnetron sputtering coating Production Line is an advanced technology commonly used for material surface treatment and thin film deposition. Its basic working principle involves controlling the movement trajectory of the ion beam through a magnetic field to achieve sputtering deposition in a low-pressure environment. In this process, argon ions are accelerated and bombarded on the target surface, sputtering target atoms, which are then deposited on the surface of the substrate to form a uniform and dense film. In the magnetron sputtering process, the most critical part is the "guiding effect of the magnetic field". On the surface of the target cathode, a magnetic field is generated by an external electromagnetic device. The role of the magnetic field is to constrain charged particles and make them move along a specific trajectory near the target cathode surface. By increasing the density of the magnetic field, the density of the plasma will also be greatly increased. As the density of the plasma increases, the efficiency of energy concentration is also improved, thereby enhancing the acceleration speed and sputtering rate of the argon ions. Under the action of the magnetic field, the argon gas is excited into argon ions. These argon ions are accelerated and hit the surface of the target. This collision produces a sputtering effect, that is, the argon ions knock out the atoms on the surface of the target material, causing the atoms of the target material to be "sputtered" into the surrounding environment in the form of ions or atoms. The sputtered material on the surface of the target material is guided to the surface of the substrate in a vacuum environment. This process is achieved by ions or atoms in the space between the target material and the substrate. When these sputtered materials fly to the surface of the substrate, they begin to deposit and adhere to the substrate. As the sputtering process continues, a uniform film layer is gradually formed. By adjusting the sputtering time, target material type and process parameters, the material type, thickness, density and uniformity of the film can be controlled. For example, using different target materials will affect the chemical composition and physical properties of the final film. The sputtering time will also directly affect the thickness of the film. The longer the deposition time, the thicker the film.
A significant advantage of continuous magnetron sputtering coating technology is that it can adapt to a variety of target materials, including metals, alloys, ceramic materials, etc. Different targets will form different films during the sputtering process. These films can be used to improve the physical properties of the material, such as hardness, wear resistance, conductivity, optical properties, etc. For example, metal films can enhance the electrical and thermal conductivity of materials; ceramic films can improve corrosion resistance and high temperature resistance. Continuous magnetron sputtering coating can also produce reactive films, using the reaction between gas and target to generate oxide, nitride and other films. Such films have special advantages in certain applications, such as corrosion resistance, oxidation resistance, decorative coating and other aspects. Compared with traditional sputtering technology, continuous magnetron sputtering coating technology has significant advantages, one of which is its high efficiency and low damage. Due to the presence of the magnetic field, the energy of ions is low when they contact the substrate, which effectively inhibits the damage of high-energy charged particles to the substrate, especially for materials such as semiconductors that have extremely high surface quality requirements. The damage is much lower than other traditional sputtering technologies. Through this low-energy sputtering, the high quality and uniformity of the film can be guaranteed, while reducing the risk of substrate damage.
Due to the use of magnetron electrodes, a very large target bombardment ion current can be obtained, thereby achieving a high sputtering etching rate on the target surface, thereby increasing the film deposition rate on the substrate surface. Under the high probability of collision between low-energy electrons and gas atoms, the ionization rate of the gas is greatly improved, and accordingly, the impedance of the discharge gas (or plasma) is greatly reduced. Therefore, compared with DC diode sputtering, even if the working pressure is reduced from 1-10Pa to 10^-2-10^-1Pa, the sputtering voltage is reduced from several thousand volts to several hundred volts, and the improvement of sputtering efficiency and deposition rate is an order of magnitude change. Due to the low cathode voltage applied to the target, the magnetic field confines the plasma to the space close to the cathode, thereby suppressing the bombardment of the substrate by high-energy charged particles. Therefore, the degree of damage to substrates such as semiconductor devices using this technology is lower than other sputtering methods.
All metals, alloys and ceramic materials can be made into targets. Through DC or RF magnetron sputtering, pure metal or alloy coatings with precise and constant ratios can be generated, and metal reactive films can also be prepared to meet the requirements of various high-precision films. Continuous magnetron sputtering coating technology is widely used in the electronic information industry, such as integrated circuits, information storage, liquid crystal displays, laser storage, electronic control equipment and other fields; in addition, this technology can also be applied to the field of glass coating; it also has important applications in industries such as wear-resistant materials, high-temperature corrosion resistance and high-end decorative products. With the continuous development of technology, continuous magnetron sputtering coating production lines will show their great potential in more fields.