Plasma Emission Monitoring

TECHNOLOGY

Plasma Emission Monitoring (PEM) is a real-time closed-loop control method used for
- High-speed precision reactive gas flow control
- High-rate sputter deposition of compound films
- Continuous operation in the metastable "transition" mode
- Reactive gas flow control while sputtering in the "ceramic" mode
- Composition control co-sputtering metal-metal composites or mixed compounds
- Doping control
- Autonomous thin film materials discovery
- Flexible, robotics-driven automation
- Predictive maintenance
Broadband PEM (2B-PEM®) is a UV-VIS-nIR based PEM technology that acquires real-time plasma emission spectra to control and monitor plasma-based processes.
2B-PEM®enables rapid and precise mass-production of thin films, such as metal oxides, nitrides, oxynitrides, carbides, metal-metal composites and oxide mixtures.
2B-PEM®enables dramatic throughput improvement compared to RF sputtering. Optimisation of PEM working-point leads to substantially enhanced film properties.
2B-PEM®systems provide a continuous stream of high-quality data at the scale required for higher level AI, e.g. self-driving materials discovery platforms based on Gaussian process regression and Bayesian optimisation.

HOW WE APPLY IT

Nova Fabrica 2B-PEM® systems fuse seamlessly with production lines in intelligent factories. They control actuators (e.g. mass flow controllers or plasma process power supplies) by sensing one or multiple plasma emission lines and automatically adjusting the actuator output precisely and at high speed. As a result, fixing the plasma process at an otherwise unstable working point throughout the production run is a breeze. The result is a high-rate deposition and consistent film composition while avoiding target poisoning.

CHALLENGE

Coating technologies are becoming increasingly complex as performance and environmental requirements change. You develop new materials and layer stacks to address the current needs.
Your current PEM suffers from repeatability and reproducibility issues restricting automation. You cannot diagnose your process easily.
You find it hard to precisely repeat the optimal process condition, determine drifting process, detect a disturbance or a leak.
Enhancing your existing and new coater's process monitoring and control capabilities is critical to increasing product value, coater yield and reducing the overall ownership cost.

SOLUTION

Lift your processes to the next level of performance and productivity. Inteleg®2B-PEM® solutions provide precise and repeatable process control with the reliability needed for modern 24/7 production: flexible, robotics-driven, automated plasma PVD and CVD tools, multi-process cluster platforms and large area coaters.
Process engineers and technologists can leverage new capabilities with unprecedented speed, measurement & timing precision, and control accuracy.
Unique and customer-driven solutions can drastically increase performance. Inteleg®2B-PEM® solutions offer an ever-growing envelope of advantages, ranging from advances in thin-film materials to productivity increases and scrap prevention.

BENEFITS

Embedded atomic and molecule lines database
Process reproducibility and long-term stability
Automated calibrations and system health checks
Dramatic process improvements
Scrap and down-time prevention
Easy installation and OEM integration
Rugged design, single compact unit
Cost efficiency

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