Other activities include on-site process implementation, training and tuning

GENCOA products cover 3 sputtering related areas

Magnetron Sputter Cathodes

planar & rotatable

Reactive gas controller & endpoint detector

Linear ion sources

GENCOA Key Company Facts

• GENCOA is a private limited company (Ltd)

• Founded 1995 by Dr Dermot Monaghan

• Located in Liverpool, UK

• Employs 34 people 6 design (Pro E 3D CAD) 4 process development & simulation 14 assembly & test 4 sales & tech support (2 Asia based) 3 administration & accounts 3 hardware & software (Speedflo) • > 3000 magnetrons in the field

• > 500 speedflo systems in the field 95% market share

Sales agents / distributors located around the world and 95% of output is exported from the UK Main markets are USA, EU, Japan, Taiwan, Korea & China Local Gencoa based staff for technical support in USA, EU & Asia

GENCOA worldwide company presence

Reactive gas process controllers

Reactive gas process controllers

Speedflo used in glass, solar, display & OLED sectors & makes today’s & tomorrow’s products possible

Cost of ownership of reactive feedback elements

• Line speed increase x 3-5

• Return on Speedflo (reactive controller) investment < 30 days

Si and SiOx rates at 23 kW (dual rotatable)

0

30

60

90

120

0 20 40 60 80 100

Setpoint (O2 emission 777nm)

Co

ati

ng

ra

te (

nm

. m

/min

)

Reactive Sputtering Monitoring

Reactive gas input

Exhaust

Substrate

Target Control

Part. Press.

Transp.,σ,n Voltage, Freq. Plasma emmission

Process Inputs / Outputs

Inputs

• PEM - Plasma emission monitor

• Metal line / multiple lines

• Gas line • Argon line • Plasma spectrum

• Target voltage

• lambda sensor gas partial pressure

Outputs (Actuator)

• Reactive Gas Flow

• Target Voltage

• Target Power Output

• Gas partial pressure (Ar / throttle valve)

Pro / Cons of Inputs

Inputs

• PEM - Plasma emission monitor

• Metal line / multiple lines

• Gas line • Argon line • Plasma spectrum

• Target voltage

• lambda sensor gas partial pressure

• PEM high speed, most universal / powerful & can be multi-zone but requires fibre-optics

• Target voltage is high speed and low cost but “single zone” and in the past for certain material / gas combinations

• Gas partial pressure - multi-gas expensive, but single gas lower cost, requires sensor in chamber

The ideal controller handles all

Inputs

• PEM • Metal line / multiple

lines • Gas line • Argon line • Plasma spectrum

• Target voltage • Gas partial pressure

Outputs (Actuator)

• Reactive Gas Flow

• Target Voltage

• Target Power Output

• Gas partial pressure (Ar / throttle valve)

• Why is Mulit-function important?

• Some processes are hard to control and drifts / fluctuations occur

Speedflo multi-channel controller

Reactive deposition

A ready made solution

• Large area reactive sputtering 30 years old • Mature processing products available • Reactive sputtering in the high rate metal mode is highly unstable process so appropriate process control the critical factor • Gencoa have implemented reactive process control over many different production plants with > 3m glass sizes • More than 500 Speedflo systems controlling reactive production plants around the world • Gencoa can set-up the process control on-site or connect remotely to the Speedflo box

Digital software drive process controller

The data processing in the Speedflo box (not PC) for high speed robust operation

Typical closed loop feedback times of 5-20 msec – from signal receipt to gas delivery in the target area.

Multiple sensors control and trim gas over large areas

±1.5% uniformity already commonplace on 1-3m glass

• Choice of sensor types available

Lambda Sensors

Gencoa have a range of optical components

P.E.M requires the light signal from the plasma to be transmitted

Measures excess gas in the process

Penning Gauge based P.E.M. sensor used for batch processes with plasma fluctuations

Upto 4 different wavelengths can be combined

Speedflo spectrometer based sensor displays the full plasma spectrum information

Additional sensor control box included

Gencoa Lambda sensors measure the O2 concentration in the vacuum chamber

Speedflo different sensor responses to a gas ramp - hysteresis

0

1

2

3

4

5

4950 5050 5150 5250 5350 5450 5550 5650 5750 5850 5950

Sensor 1 (PENNING)

Actuator 1 (METER)

Setpoint 1

Sensor 2 (LAMBDA)

Actuator 2 (MFC)

Setpoint 2

The MKS 1179A is a suitable valve

The gas flow valves need to have a fast enough response to match the process needs

msec

Gencoa will advise on with PEM sensor locations and gas delivery method

& the sizes of the MFC’s required for the process

All components need to be integrated correctly

to ensure optimum operation

Reactive AZO Sputtering

Hysteresis but can be controlled with feedback

ZnAl dual rotatable + O2 - TRIPLE RAMP CONDITIONING

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

0 50 100 150 200 250Time, s

Sign

als,

% SetPoint (%)Sensor (%)Actuator (%)

Process control window for Speedflo related to response for SiOx

in typical AR layer stack for flat screen television

Example of controlled reactive dual rotatable ITO deposition runs

InSn + O2 Speedflo control during production tests

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400

time, s

Sig

nals

Sensor (V)Actuator (V)SetPoint (V)

85% Transmission13Ω Sheet resistance

Reactive dual rotatable AZO deposition process window

ZnAl + O2 reactive control dual rotatable

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

0 100 200 300 400 500Time, s

MFC

feed

back

, scc

m

0

20

40

60

80

100

O2 P

EM a

nd ta

rget

V

Sens

ors

(%)

Gas Feedback (SCCM)O2 PEM value %O2 PEM setpoint %Target V %

Process control using plasma monitoring

TCO film property tuning using ‘Speedflo’ reactive sputtering

controller with a dual rotatable magnetron

InSn+O2 using Speedflo control for reactive production of ITO

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

38 40 42 44 46 48 50 52O2 Set-point (%)

Shee

t res

ista

nce

(ohm

s)

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

Tran

smis

sion

(%)

Sheet resistanceTransmission

Development Optimised

ZnAl + O2 reactive control dual rot rotatable

0102030405060708090

100

0 1000 2000 3000

Time, s

MF

C feedback, sccm

0

20

40

60

80

100

O2 P

EM

and targ

et V

S

ensors

%

Gas Feedback (SCCM)O2 PEM value %O2 PEM setpoint %

Changed Ks to regain control

The controller requires ‘tuning’ to provide optimum control – reactive

AZO sputtering controller with a dual rotatable magnetron

P.E.M based reactive sputtering controllers already work in large scale Low-E glass

SiOx AC dual 3 Master (A, B & C) and 1 slave (1G) control

-100

-80

-60

-40

-20

0

20

40

60

80

0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000

Time, s

Se

nso

r sig

na

ls

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

Ac

tua

tor

sig

na

l %

Sensor B(%)Sensor target V(%)Actuator 2B(%)Actuator 1G(%)

Sensor B setpoint = 50%

target voltage variation

Master O2 flow (2B)

Slave O2 flow 1G=2 x (2B)

P.E.M control response to load-lock activity

Rate enhancement for reactive sputtering controllers

P.E.M set-point verses dynamic deposition rate

Si and SiOx rates at 23 kW (dual rotatable)

0

30

60

90

120

0 20 40 60 80 100

Setpoint (O2 emission 777nm)

Co

ati

ng

ra

te (

nm

. m

/min

)

Rate enhancement for reactive sputtering controllers

P.E.M set-point verses dynamic deposition rate

AlOx depasition rate. Dual rotatable magnetron.

0

20

40

60

80

100

1030507090110

Deposition rate (A.U.)

Targ

et v

olta

ge se

tpoi

nt, %

NbOx-SiOx layer gain in thickness after climate tests

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

KT1_1 KT1_2 KT1_3 KT1_4 KT1_5 KT1_6 KT1_7Sample reference

Laye

r thi

ckne

ss, n

m

NbOx (SiOx at 45%)NbOx (SiOx at 60%)SiOx at 45%PEMSiOx at 60%PEM

+ 0.8 nm after climate test

+ 1.4 nm after climate test

Rate or layer properties determine the controller set-point

On-site process training and support by Gencoa personnel

From UK office or local GENCOA employees

Gencoa provide process controllers, remote access or on-site process tuning

Typical AR production line Speedflo installation

Rotatable & planar sputtering modules with speedflo control available

Complete process control modules including electronics

Rear cabinet will house all the control and components

PEM sensors have argon bleed lines (not shown) to prevent coating of the optics

All parts have been positioned for optimum process operation

Conclusions

• Gencoa can provide a range of process control solutions based upon the Speedflo system for high rate oxide & nitride layers. • As an example with the DLIM magnets, Speedflo controller and Gencoa gas bars a rate of between 40nm.m/min and 60nm.m/min will be achieved for SiO2 from 1 dual magnetron pair running at around 15kW AC per m length of target. • The actual rate will be 40-55nm.m/min and will depend upon the coating properties required from the film. • Gencoa can offer on-site process implementation and optimization based upon many years of experience on a wide range of processes and machine platforms.