Exhibitor Keynote Lecture

Professor Emeritus Roger De Gryse
Ghent University, Belgium

“Rotatable Magnetrons, Today and Tomorrow”

The continuously increasing demand for a higher quality of life requires the fabrication of products with improved functionality at ever decreasing prices. Moreover, environmental awareness requires that these products are manufactured with so-called “clean“, technologies. These demands have led to a rapid technological progress within the thin film industry. Physical Vapor Deposition (PVD) has been proven able to cope with these requirements, and within the PVD family, magnetron sputtering in all its varieties is probably the best known and most widely spread deposition technology. This success is mainly due to the thin film quality, reproducibility, and flexibility, as well as the scalability of the sputtering process. The concept of magnetron sputtering has been used under many different forms. Probably the best known implementation of magnetically assisted sputtering is to be found in the “classics“ such as in the planar magnetrons, either circular or rectangular. However, magnetically assisted sputtering is also used in many other forms such as inverted magnetrons, cylindrical-post magnetrons, cylindrical hollow cathode magnetrons, facing target magnetrons and rotatable cathode magnetrons. This last variety, the rotatable magnetron, is maybe the least known to the general public but most intensively used in large area coating applications like in web coating and glass coating. In this instance, we will focus on rotatable magnetrons, and their benefits and drawbacks, in addition to their peculiarities. For example, it turns out that in reactive sputtering their behavior is quite different in comparison to a rectangular magnetron of similar dimensions. Also, new trends in rotatable magnetron sputtering will be discussed from a technological point of view, as well as from the viewpoint of market demands.

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Biographical sketch

Dr. De Gryse obtained an MS in electronic engineering in 1964 and a PhD in Applied Science in 1976 from Ghent University with a focused study of the influence of surface States on the frequency behavior of MIS (Metal-Insulator-Semiconductor) structures. In the same year, he became a research fellow at the department of Solid State Sciences of the Ghent University. During that period, Dr. De Gryse was essentially responsible for the development of Ultra High Vacuum systems; first generation quadrupole SIMS, low energy ion scattering (LEIS) equipment, Wien velocity filters and energy selectors such as CMA’s and 127° analyzers which he used for the study of catalytic systems.

From Dr. De Gryse’s LEIS experience grew his interest in the interaction between ion beams and solids. This, in turn, triggered his interest in magnetron sputtering as a technology and as a process for the growth of high quality coatings, especially by using rotatable magnetrons.

In 1991 Dr. De Gryse became a lecturer at the department of Solid State Sciences at Ghent University and in 1999 full Professor in the same department. He retired and became Emeritus in 2007 but is still active within the research group DRAFT (Design, Research and Feasibility of Thin Films) headed by Proffesor Diederik Depla.

In 1988 Dr. De Gryse founded, together with some colleagues, one of the first spin-off companies at the Ghent University. This company, SINVACO, specialized in the development and production of rotatable magnetrons, cylindrical cathodes, and the design of dedicated vacuum equipment became the largest worldwide manufacturer of rotatable magnetrons for the web coating and glass coating industry. In 2000, SINVACO was acquired by a Belgian company, Bekaert N.V., and Dr. De Gryse was involved in the origin of a new Bekaert division called Bekaert Advanced Materials. This division is still the largest worldwide manufacturer of rotatable magnetrons for both the web and glass coating industry. Since that time, he has been a member of the board of Bekaert Advanced Materials.

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