Spotlight on Glass Coating Solutions from Advanced Energy

It’s easy to take an invention for granted when it’s been around for over 3,000 years. You probably can find glass right near you as you read this. That ceramic coffee cup, the ever-present smartphone, your flat-panel monitor, a pair of spectacles. Maybe you can look through the self-cleaning glass that shapes today’s skyscrapers.

Many process engineers have a special vision and appreciation for glass and glass coating. They take nothing for granted. They strive to perfect density, uniformity, process stability and plasma control in sputtering and deposition. While some aspects of their work are industry-specific, increasing the value of the end-product and squeezing even more throughput also are goals, industry-ubiquitous challenges that inspire innovation, even with centuries-old products.

Power Solutions for Myriad Applications

In applications spanning from OLEDs to next-gen solar panels and UV-filtering glass, the need for higher deposition rates and repeatability depends in large part on the quality of the power supply. With advanced arc management, pulsed-DC and bipolar-pulsed DC power systems, we offer process engineers power shaping and control solutions that enable meeting evolving customer requirements while also lowering total cost of ownership.

• Ascent^® DMS (Dual Magnetron Sputtering) Accessories – Unprecedented power delivery ease and control for dual-magnetron sputtering with selectable frequency, regulation mode and duty cycle, as well as low stored energy and simplified, modular system configuration.
• Ascent AP (Advanced Pulsing Pulsing) Power Supplies – A compact, single-unit solution (up to 30 kW) featuring Set point compensation™ technology for stable throughput.
• Ascent AMS DC Power Supplies – Arc management system engineered to deliver stable, repeatable power, regardless of process material or cathode design.
• Crystal AC Power Supplies – Fastest arc handling and recovery in the industry, with a wide output impedance range and stable resonant network design that enables stable power-delivery performance even during heavy arching conditions.

New Techniques for Timeless Materials

Our customers are always looking for ways to improve thin films and other coatings. We often collaborate with them to identify the cause of issues that lead to product losses or inconsistent quality. We’ve recently published a whitepaper, Modeling Crazing or Lightning Arc Defects in Large Area Systems, that discusses the causes for these common defects. In it, we propose a new theory for the start of crazing events (as opposed to the traditional assumption that electrostatic breakdown) and provide “electrical models intended to show electrical current paths and expand knowledge beyond what cannot be sufficiently explained by existing theories.”

It’s amazing how innovation impacts even materials that have been part of our lives for thousands of years. At Advanced Energy, we look at innovation through our own special lens, focused on power while also keeping in sight our customers’ and your customers’ long-range objectives.

You can learn more about our solutions for glass coating applications on our site. Then, get in touch with our engineers to get started on determining which Ascent solution is best for your application.