“Investing in this new facility means we can simulate the conditions in which our customers use sputtering targets, develop and test new coatings materials, improve existing processes and use various analytical methods to support our customers,” says Ulrich Lausecker, head of the coating sales segment at PLANSEE HPM.

As a result, it will be much quicker for PLANSEE HPM to develop and improve its coatings products for areas of application such as TFT flat screens, thin-film solar cells, large area and optical coating as well as coatings for data storage, and hard-material coatings for machining tools.

A key part of the new facility is the sputtering chamber, which can carry out a wide range of PVD-coating processes. This enables trial-sized substrates with an edge length of a few centimeters to be coated. The clean room is used to analyze the sample substrate, and check if the electric conductivity is correct, if the thickness, optical properties and adhesiveness are right, and to see what internal stresses the coating is subject to. Answering these questions involves the use of a profilometer, spectrometer, microhardness tester and other analytical tools. A key instrument is the high-resolution scanning electron microscope, which can analyze the internal structure of the coatings in nanometers. The samples can be vacuum-packed and sent to customers and partner companies for further analysis.

Ulrich Lausecker comments: “The new coatings facility enables PLANSEE HPM to offer its customers a highly-technical and expert service including development, production and analysis of sputtering targets. As such, the company is covering more of the value chain than any other sputtering target manufacturer.”