Sputtering is another way of physical vapor deposition.

What is sputtering technology?
       Sputtering is another way of physical vapor deposition technology. The sputtering process is the technology that the target material is bombarded out by ion bombardment. Inert gas, such as argon, is charged into the vacuum cavity. By using high voltage, glow discharge is generated to accelerate the ion to the target surface. Argon ion bombards (sputters) the target material from the surface and deposits it on the workpiece in front of the target. Other gas bodies, such as nitrogen and acetylene, are usually used to react with the target material sputtered out to form a thin compound Membrane. Sputtering technology can prepare many kinds of coatings, and has many advantages in decorative coatings (such as Ti, Cr, Zr and carbonitride). Because of its very smooth coating, sputtering technology is also widely used in the field of Tribology in the automotive market (for example, CrN, Cr < sub > 2 < / sub > N and many kinds of diamond (DLC) coatings). High energy ions bombard the target, extract atoms and transform them into gas state. A large number of materials can be sputtered by magnetron sputtering technology.

溅射工艺示意图
                                  Schematic diagram of sputtering process

Advantages of sputtering technology:
+ Target material adopts water cooling to reduce thermal radiation 
+ Almost any metal material can be sputtered as a target without decomposition 
+ 绝缘材料也可以通过使用射频或中频电源溅射 
+ Possibility of oxide preparation (reactive sputtering) 
+ Good coating uniformity 
+ Very smooth coating (no droplets) 
+ The cathode (up to 2m long) can be placed at any position, which improves the flexibility of equipment design

溅射技术的缺点：
- 与电弧技术比较，较低的沉积速率 
- 与电弧相比，等离子体密度较低（~5%），涂层结合力和涂层致密度较低

溅射技术有多种形式，这里我们将解释其中的一些，这些溅射技术都能在汇驰真空生产的真空镀膜设备上实现。
+ 磁控溅射 使用磁场保持靶材前面等离子体，强化离子的轰击，提高等离子体密度。
+ UBM 溅射是非平衡磁控溅射的缩写。使用增强的磁场线圈加强工件附近的等离子密度。可以得到更加致密的涂层。在UBM过程中使用了更高的能量，所以温度也会相应升高。
+ 闭合场溅射 运用磁场分布限制等离子体于闭合场内。降低靶材材料对真空腔室的损失并使等离子体更加靠近工件。可以得到致密涂层，并且使真空腔室保持相对清洁。
+ 孪生靶溅射（DMS）是用来沉积绝缘体涂层的技术。交流电（AC）作用在两个阴极上，而不是在阴极和真空腔室之间采用直流（DC）。这样使靶材具有自我清理功能。孪生靶磁控溅射用来高速沉积如氧化物涂层。
+ HIPIMS+ （高功率脉冲磁控溅射）采用高脉冲电源提高溅射材料的离化率。运用HIPIMS+ 制备的涂层兼具了电弧技术和溅射技术的优点。HIPIMS+ 形成致密涂层，具有良好涂层结合力，同时也是原子级的光滑和无缺陷的涂层。