A more advanced sputter coater where the complete sequence of flush, leak, coat and vent is automatically controlled. The solenoid operated leak valve allows the gas pressure to return automatically to pre-set conditions. The coater can also be operated in the manual mode if required. The sputter current is set by a digital programmer and is independent of the gas pressure. Sputtering currents up to 40mA allow a range of target materials to be efficiently sputtered by the magnetron head. Coating time can be set, stored and displayed by the digital timer.
Further automation can be achieved with the addition of the terminating film thickness monitor. With this fitted, the desired thickness can be entered and the sputtering process is automatically terminated when this thickness has been reached.