By IMT Masken und Teilungen AG
The sputter coating takes place using gas discharge and the resulting kinetic energy of ions. These ions shoot atoms from the source of the coating material to the target. This ‘sputtered’ material then condenses on the substrate. By means of the sputter process, we achieve an excellent coating quality on a number of metals such as chrome, aluminium, chrome nickel, titanium, tantalum, niobium and silicon. In the reactive sputter processes, it is also possible to deposit dielectric coatings such as SiO 2, Al 2 O 3, CrO, Ti 2 O 3, Ta 2 O 5, Nb 2 O 5, Si 3 N 4 and TiN. Due to the high kinetic energy resulting from the ionisation of the sputter gases, sputter coatings have a higher density than evaporated coatings. This has a positive effect on losses due to diffused light, thermal stability, optical density and mechanical stability. IMT uses both technologies – evaporation and magnetron sputtering – for metallic and optical coatings.
