Ultra high vacuum PVD system with three magnetron sources and one UHV arc source.

The system is capable of operating in HIPIMS, DC, pulsed DC, RF and pulsed RF modes. It has a heated biased substrate capable of DC, pulsed DC, RF or pulsed RF bias.

The rig is equipped with extensive plasma diagnostics instrumentation for in situ measurements of film growth. The instrumentation includes plasma sampling energy-resolved mass spectroscopy, retarding field analyser, Langmuir probe, flat (ion flux) probe, optical emission spectroscopy, optical absorption spectroscopy, deposition rate monitor. All plasma diagnostic tools are capable of fast time resolution and have been used to characterise HIPIMS plasmas.

The setup is ideally suited for the study of new plasma sources, the development of new material compositions (nanolayers, nanocomposites and multi-component phases) and for deposition on variety of substrates including metal alloys, steels, glass, polymers, silicon wafers and fabrics.