What Drives Today’s Developments in Power?

For all of us, the need to lower production costs, the development of new process technologies, and the opening of new market segments are key drivers. This is true not only in the semiconductor industry, where increases in wafer size drive the need to lower costs and increase throughput, but also in industrial applications, such as flat panel display, glass, hard coatings, and optical coatings, where similar requirements generate technological development at a very high level.

And what does this mean for AE?

Take a look at the Ascent^® product line, our high-power DC family. The Ascent AMS (Arc Management System^®) series was designed for stable power delivery even through high arc conditions, such as we see in the field during AZO sputtering. Key features of this series include a dynamic control system, extremely fast arc handling, and the lowest stored energy in the industry.

Historically speaking, dual magnetron systems performing conventional bi-polar magnetron sputtering are not driven by DC power. Traditionally, even a highly dynamic DC power supply would not suit these processes. However, responding to increasing process and industry demands, AE developed the Ascent DMS dual magnetron sputtering accessory to enable the benefits of DC power in dual magnetron sputtering applications. It provides DC-like arc handling and very low arc energy, and allows the use of new cost-effective target materials, offering solutions for key market and application challenges.

For more information, please visit our Ascent DMS information page.