The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jan. 18, 2005
Filed:
Apr. 05, 2004
Paul Stephen Mcleod, Berkeley, CA (US);
Mark A. Shows, San Jose, CA (US);
Paul Stephen McLeod, Berkeley, CA (US);
Mark A. Shows, San Jose, CA (US);
Seagate Technology LLC, Scotts Valley, CA (US);
Abstract
A single, or common, ion beam source is utilized for ion beam deposition (IBD) of defect-free multilayer coatings, e.g., multilayer, carbon-based protective overcoats for magnetic and/or magneto-optical (MO) data recording/information storage and retrieval media such as hard disks. According to the inventive methodology, a plurality of source gas supply means for supplying a single IBD source with different source gases for each of the layers of the multilayer are selectively operated in 'vent' and 'run' modes by means of a plurality of valves, the opening and closing of which are determined by a programmable gas flow controller. The inventive method and apparatus advantageously provide IBD of multilayer coatings with minimum cross-contamination of individual layers, at a reduced equipment cost and size obtained by elimination of the need for separate ion beam sources and associated vacuum pump for each constituent layer of the multilayer.