Sputter coating apparatus including ion beam source(s), and corresponding method
First Claim
1. A coating apparatus for forming first and second coatings on a horizontally-aligned glass substrate, the coating apparatus comprising:
- at least one sputtering target positioned so as to be located at an elevation above the horizontally-aligned 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 horizontally-aligned glass substrate as the substrate moves laterally through the coating apparatus; and
at least one ion beam source positioned so as to be located at an elevation below the glass substrate so that the ion beam source but no sputtering target is located 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.
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Accused Products
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.
80 Citations
24 Claims
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1. A coating apparatus for forming first and second coatings on a horizontally-aligned glass substrate, the coating apparatus comprising:
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at least one sputtering target positioned so as to be located at an elevation above the horizontally-aligned 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 horizontally-aligned glass substrate as the substrate moves laterally through the coating apparatus; and at least one ion beam source positioned so as to be located at an elevation below the glass substrate so that the ion beam source but no sputtering target is located 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. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A method of coating a horizontally-aligned glass substrate, the method comprising:
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moving the horizontally-aligned 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, and wherein at least one ion source for ion beam depositing the second coating is located under the horizontally-aligned glass substrate so that the ion source but no sputtering target is located under the glass substrate. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A coating apparatus for forming first and second coatings on a horizontally-aligned substrate, the coating apparatus comprising:
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at least one sputtering target for sputtering a first coating onto a first side of the horizontally aligned substrate; at least one ion beam source for ion beam depositing a second coating onto a second side of the horizontally-aligned substrate, wherein the sputtering target and the ion beam source each deposit the respective coatings on the horizontally-aligned substrate as the substrate moves laterally through the coating apparatus; and 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 so that the ion beam source but no sputtering target is located at an elevation below the conveying roller. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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Specification