Partner Industries

Sputtering Components partners with architectural glass, preservation and decorative glass and auto glass manufacturers around the globe.

Our rotary magnetrons and complete e-Cathode™ process lid systems are part of large area coaters—including the latest "jumbo" coaters—where reliability is key. Coating campaigns in these types of coaters can last from one week to over one month between vents.

With their high reliability and low cost of ownership, including do-it-yourself-maintenance, Sputtering Components cathodes help keep these coaters running smoothly to reduce the overall cost of production while at the same time improving thin film quality.

Due to its improved arc rates and higher achievable power densities as compared to sputtering with planar targets, Sputtering Components rotary magnetrons are often used with target materials such as silicon nitride, silicon dioxide, niobium pentoxide and titanium dioxide. For metallic layers, the primary benefit comes from higher material utilization. Overall, cylindrical cathode sputtering reduces the overall cost of production while at the same time improving thin film quality.

With thousands operating around the globe, our SC cathode is the architectural glass industry standard.

Sputtering Components rotary magnetron (rotatable cathode) sputtering technology is used in all major forms of solar cell technology.

Silicon-Based Technologies: Silicon-based technologies were the first commercially developed photovoltaic products and maintain a dominant market share today. Though other processes are used for the production of the silicon, sputtering is widely used to produce a back reflector layer (made predominantly with aluminum) and front contacts (made with transparent conducting oxides, TCO). With rotary magnetrons, TCO materials reap substantial benefits in performance, economics and quality.

CIGS and CdTe: Known collectively as “thin film solar” technology, these two types are generally used on flexible substrates such as thin stainless steel, although rigid substrates such as glass are still used.

In addition to the traditional aluminum and TCO coatings, these technologies employ additional sputtered layers such as molybdenum and intrinsic zinc oxide.

The increased cost of molybdenum (relative to aluminum) has led most major manufacturers to choose rotary magnetron technology due to its improved material utilization. Intrinsic zinc oxide can be produced using mid-frequency AC sputtering at much higher rates than the traditional RF technology used with planar cathodes.

Sputtering Components rotary magnetron (rotary cathode) technology is broadly used in touch screen and display manufacturing, both for rigid and flexible applications.

TFT-LCD technology makes use of TCO materials (predominantly ITO) to provide the transparent electrode on the front side of the LCD pixel. Additional materials, such as silicon dioxide, are used as insulating, adhesion and encapsulating layers in the overall TFT stack.

Using Sputtering Components rotary magnetrons for ITO has substantial economic benefits over planar ITO: production costs(equipment, material, energy) can be reduced by over one half as compared to planar ITO while at the same time film quality is improved. The same benefits hold true for flexible substrates.

In additional to the cost savings and quality improvements, temperature sensitive substrates reap additional benefits from SCI rotary magnetron technology. Due to the more efficient cooling dynamics of the rotary magnetron, users will be able to coat films at higher rates, while imparting less heat to the substrate.

In OLED manufacturing, Sputtering Components equipment is used to produce thin film array back planes as well as the anode and cathode layer.

SCI magnetrons are available with a variety of sputtering angles or even variable sputtering angles by rotating the magnet bar with the Swing Cathode™, which allows the user the ultimate flexibility when coating flat panels.

Sputtering Components cylindrical cathodes have several advantages over planar systems in decorative coating.

First, they allow for higher material utilization, typically without an increase in the upfront cost. In addition to the material savings, users of SCI cylindrical cathodes need to change targets far less often, in some cases as little as one-tenth as often as with planar targets.

Also stronger SCI advanced magnetics allow not only thicker targets but also lower operating pressures, which can increase throw distance and improve coating uniformity of three-dimensional substrates.

SCI magnetrons are also available with a variety of sputtering angles or even variable sputtering angles by rotating the magnet bar with the Swing Cathode™, which allows the user the ultimate flexibility when coating complex shapes.

In addition to the various rotary magnetron products, SCI offers the envis-ION™ Dual Magnetron Pre-treatment Source for functional and decorative applications. The DMPTS provides effective pre-treatment of plastic substrates as far as 200 mm from the source. This source is capable of operating using standard sputtering power supplies and at standard sputtering pressures. In some cases, the source may also be used to provide a protective SiO2 under/overcoat to decorative metals.

From individual cathodes to complete door systems, Sputtering Components equipment is on web (roll-to-roll) coaters around the globe.

In addition to the various rotary magnetron products, SCI offers the envis-ION™ Dual Magnetron Pre-treatment Source for effective pre-treatment of plastic substrates as far as 200 mm from the source. This source is capable of operating using standard sputtering power supplies and at standard sputtering pressures. In some cases, the source may also be used to provide a protective SiO2 under/overcoat to decorative metals.

SCI rotary magnetron sputtering systems for production of high-precision optical coatings result in the benefits of increased capacity and yield, lower production-cycle times, and reduced fabrication steps.

Applications:

• Night vision and distance control
• Sensors and filters
• Laser and mirror coatings 
• Consumer optics
• Camera lenses and systems
• Microscopes and endoscopes
• Optoelectronics 

Panel-level packaging

Sputtering Components provides sputtering solutions that are customized to the various packaging platforms in the panel-level packaging market.

They combine best-in-class cost of ownership and support the use of long-life targets.

EMI shielding

The SCI ARM-Bar™ is specially designed to sputter magnetic materials used for EMI shielding,  such as nickel.

Energy storage

Combining the advantages of solid-state batteries with those of thin-film manufacturing processes, thin film lithium-ion batteries allow for high-power density storage cells. Sputtering ceramics and lithium oxides, our cathodes are used in their production.