Plasma-Therm, Inc.

Paul R Fournier

David J Johnson

Mark D Kenney

Shinzo Onishi

Edmond A Richards

David G Lishan

Abdul Lateef

A sputtering system and magnet array for depositing metal and metal-reactive gas coatings onto a substrate. The magnet array is designed for use in a rotating magnetron. The magnet array includes a plurality of magnets disposed on a plate. The plurality of magnets is arranged such that a closed-loop magnetic path is formed. The shape of the magnetic path is a double-lobe structure that includes first and second lobes that are symmetric to one another about an axis in the plane of the plate that intersects the center of rotation of the plate. The magnets are arranged in several rows. A first row of magnets has a double-lobe structure that corresponds to the first and second lobes of the magnetic path. Second and third rows of magnets are arranged in the shape of rings inside the first and second lobes of the magnetic path magnetic path. The lobe structure of the magnetic path can be circular or elliptical in shape. Using this design, a metal or metal-reactive gas coating can be deposited on the surface of the substrate at a high rate.

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St. Petersburg, FL, United States of America

Paul R Fournier