Cemecon Ag

Walter May

Stephan Bolz

Rainer Cremer

Werner Kölker

The invention relates to a coating method and to a coating device for coating a body. A magnetron cathode having a target is arranged in the vacuum chamber. Electrical power is supplied to the magnetron cathode such that a plasma is generated and the target is sputtered in order to deposit a coating on the body. The electrical power is periodically supplied within a period duration T according to the HIPIMS method as cathode pulses, wherein each cathode pulse comprises at least two cathode sub-pulses and an intervening cathode sub-pulse break. In order to be able to deposit coatings having favorable properties in a particularly favorable manner by using the chopped HIPIMS method, a bias voltage is applied to the substrate to be coated with bias voltage pulses, wherein each bias voltage pulse comprises at least two bias sub-pulses and an intervening bias sub-pulse break.

Coating apparatus and coating method having divided pulses

The invention relates to an apparatus and a method for pretreating and coating bodies by means of magnetron sputtering. In a vacuum chamber having a metallic chamber wall (), magnetrons with sputter targets are arranged, at least one of which is an HPPMS magnetron to which electric pulses are fed by connecting a capacitive element () with the sputter target of the HPPMS magnetron via a switching element (). To achieve effective pretreatment and coating of substrates it is provided according to a first aspect to arrange the switching element on the chamber wall. According to a second aspect, an electrode pair is provided, wherein a first electrode is an HPPMS magnetron () and the first and second electrodes are arranged in such a manner that a body () supported on a substrate table () is arranged between the active surfaces of the electrode pair or is moved through the space between the active surfaces of the electrode pair. In a third aspect, a method is provided, wherein, in an etch step, a negative bias voltage is applied to the body and the body is etched by means of metal ion bombardment, and subsequently the bias voltage is continuously lowered so that material sputtered-off from the sputter targets results in a layer build-up on the body.

Apparatus and method for pretreating and coating bodies

A device and method for generating an electrical discharge are described. A first electrode () is operated to be a cathode relative to a second electrode (). A gas is introduced into the chamber () by the first electrode (). The first electrode () has a closed antechamber () with a metal wall (). A tube () consisting of a different material than the wall () is provided through which the gas from the antechamber () is conducted into the chamber (). A front portion of the tube () is embedded in the wall () of the antechamber (). In its rear portion, the tube () has a free end projecting into the antechamber (). A stable electrical discharge can be generated thereby in a particularly easy manner.

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Aachen, Germany

Walter May