Sputter coating apparatus including ion beam source(s), and corresponding method

• US 20040020761A1
• Filed: 05/06/2003
• Published: 02/05/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 05/06/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Guardian Glass LLC (KOCH Industries Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Guardian Industries Corporation (KOCH Industries Incorporated)
• Inventors: Thomsen, Scott V., Walton, Hugh A.
• Granted Patent: US 7,198,699 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 204/192.12
• CPC Class Codes: C03C 17/002 for flat glass, e.g. float glass
• CPC Class Codes: C03C 17/36 at least one coating being a metal
• CPC Class Codes: C03C 17/3618 Coatings of type glass/inorganic compound/other inorganic layers, at least one layer being metallic
• CPC Class Codes: C03C 17/3634 one layer at least containing carbon, a carbide or oxycarbide
• CPC Class Codes: C03C 17/3644 the metal being silver
• CPC Class Codes: C03C 17/366 Low-emissivity or solar control coatings
• CPC Class Codes: C03C 2217/78 Coatings specially designed to be durable, e.g. scratch-resistant
• CPC Class Codes: C23C 14/562 for coating elongated substrates
• CPC Class Codes: C23C 16/26 Deposition of carbon only

Abstract

A coating apparatus deposits a first coating (single or multi-layered) onto a first side of a substrate (e.g., glass substrate) passing through the apparatus, and a second coating (single or multi-layered) onto the other or second side of the substrate. In certain example embodiments, the first coating may be deposited via sputtering while the second coating is deposited via ion beam deposition. In such a manner, it is possible to coat both sides of the substrate in a single apparatus in an efficient manner. In other embodiments, the coating apparatus may sputter a coating onto a first side of the substrate and ion beam mill at least one surface of the substrate as the substrate passes through the coating apparatus. In other embodiments of this invention, a dual mode chamber may be provided that is adapted to receive a removable ion beam module on one side of a substrate and a removable sputtering module on the other side of the substrate. The different removable modules may or may not be used simultaneously in different embodiments of this invention.

Claims

1. A coating apparatus for forming first and second coatings on a glass substrate, the coating apparatus comprising:

at least one sputtering target positioned so as to be located at an elevation above a glass substrate passing through the apparatus, wherein the at least one sputtering target is to be used for sputtering a first coating onto a first side of the glass substrate; and

at least one ion beam source positioned so as to be located at an elevation below the glass substrate, wherein the at least one ion beam source is to be used to ion beam deposit a second coating onto a second side of the glass substrate opposite the first side.

2. The coating apparatus of claim 1, wherein the sputtering target and the ion beam source are, at least at a given point in time, to be in operation simultaneously so that at the given point in time the first and second coatings are being simultaneously deposited onto the first and second sides of the substrates, respectively.

3. The coating apparatus of claim 1, further comprising another ion beam source for milling off at least 2 Å

of glass from the substrate before at least one of the coatings is applied to the substrate.

4. The coating apparatus of claim 3, wherein the another ion beam source is to be located at an elevation below the substrate so that the another ion beam source and the at least one ion beam source are to be located on the same side of the substrate in the apparatus.

5. The coating apparatus of claim 1, wherein the sputtering target and the ion beam source are located in a common chamber of the apparatus.

6. The coating apparatus of claim 1, wherein the sputtering target and the ion beam source are located in different chambers of the coating apparatus, wherein the different chambers can be maintained at different pressures during coating operations.

7. A method of coating a glass substrate, the method comprising:

moving the glass substrate through a coating apparatus; and

while the glass substrate is moving through the coating apparatus, simultaneously sputtering a first coating having at least one layer onto a first side of the glass substrate and ion beam depositing a second coating onto a second side of the substrate that is opposite the first side.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the first coating comprises a layer comprising Ag provided between at least first and second dielectric layers.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein the second coating comprises at least one layer comprising diamond-like carbon (DLC).

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the DLC comprises more sp³ carbon-carbon bonds than sp² carbon-carbon bonds.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the layer comprising DLC has an average hardness of at least 10 GPa.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the layer comprising DLC has an average hardness of at least 20 GPa.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein the layer comprising DLC is hydrogenated.

14. The method of claim 7, further comprising using at least first, second and third sputtering targets in sputtering the first coating onto the substrate, wherein the first target comprises at least one of silicon, tin, titanium, and zinc, and the second target includes silver (Ag).

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the third target comprises at least one of silicon, tin, titanium and zinc.

16. The method of claim 7, further comprising, prior to ion beam depositing the second coating, ion beam milling off at least 2 Å

of glass from the second side of the substrate using an ion beam source located at an elevation below the substrate.

17. A coating apparatus for forming first and second coatings on a substrate, the coating apparatus comprising:

at least one sputtering target for sputtering a first coating onto a first side of the substrate; and

at least one ion beam source for ion beam depositing a second coating onto a second side of the substrate.

18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the at least one sputtering target is located at an elevation above a conveying roller and the at least one ion beam source is located at an elevation below the conveying roller.

19. A method of coating a glass substrate, the method comprising:

sputtering a first coating having at least one layer onto a first side of the glass substrate, and

ion beam depositing a second coating onto a second side of the substrate that is opposite the first side.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein at least one sputtering target for said sputtering is located at an elevation above a roller that supports the substrate as it moves during the sputtering, and wherein at least one ion beam source for the ion beam depositing is located at an elevation below the roller.

21. The method of claim 19, further comprising ion beam milling at least about 2 A of glass from a surface of the glass substrate prior to the ion beam depositing.

22. A method of forming first and second coatings on a glass substrate, the method comprising:

forming a first coating on a first side of the glass substrate; and

while at least part of the first coating is being formed on the first side of the glass substrate, ion beam depositing a second coating onto a second side of the substrate.

23. The method of claim 22, further comprising ion beam milling at least about 2 Å

of glass from a surface of the glass substrate prior to the ion beam depositing.

24. A coating deposition apparatus comprising:

a dual mode chamber for selectively receiving a removable ion source module on a first side of a moving substrate and a removable sputtering module on a second side of the substrate.

25. The coating deposition apparatus of claim 24, wherein the dual mode chamber is designed so that the ion source module and the sputtering module may be located on opposite sides of the substrate directly across from one another.

26. A coating deposition apparatus comprising:

a dual mode chamber for selectively receiving first and second removable ion sources on opposite sides of a moving substrate directly across from one another.

27. A coating deposition apparatus comprising:

support means for supporting a glass substrate moving through the apparatus; and

means for selectively receiving first and second removable ion sources and/or sputtering targets on opposite sides of the substrate directly across from one another.

28. The coating deposition apparatus of claim 27, wherein the first and second removable ion sources and/or sputtering targets may or may not be provided in the apparatus at the same time.