Magnetron sputtering – Milestones of 30 years

Since the introduction of the planar magnetron by J.S. Chapin in 1974 magnetron sputtering has become the most important technology for the deposition of thin films. Today it has conquered all industrial branches needing high-quality coatings for realization of new or improvement of existing products. The magnetron cathode combines the advantages of economic deposition even on large areas and the ability to coat very temperature sensitive plastic substrates. Main problems like poor target material utilization of the planar magnetron or process instabilities during deposition of highly insulating films have been solved by many innovations during the past 30 years. Novel films with even better quality seem to be possible with “High Power Impulse Magnetron Sputtering (HiPIMS)”. New attempts to increase sputter yield and thus film growth rate are “Sputter Yield Amplification (SYA)” or sputtering from hot targets. This paper gives a brief review on important milestones of the past three decades and outlines some ongoing developments.