Large area precision optical coatings by reactive ion beam sputtering.

The demand for ion beam sputtering (IBS) coated substrates is growing. In order to introduce IBS technology into new fields of application, the uniform deposition area (UDA) must be further increased. In the present investigation, a simple approach toward enlarging a UDA and the corresponding scaling laws are presented. By taking symmetry properties into account, the collection efficiency of the sputtered particles could be doubled. A process is demonstrated which allows the simultaneous and uniform coating of two areas each with a diameter of 600 mm.