MAT-VAC Announces the NEW
Universal Sputterer™
In Line Load Lock Batch Sputtering Systems,
designed around the popular MRC 900/600 Series Chassis

MAT-VAC Technology, Inc. is proud to announce a revolution in sputtering system design, the Universal Sputterer™. Move your thin film shop out of the original antiquated MRC electro-mechanical control systems and up to the Most Advanced, fully automated in line sputtering system family on the market today! These are not proposed systems, rather they are in production and in service now!

MAT-VAC has expended a great deal of its resources to engineer its innovative new sputtering system products. No "Short Cuts" have been taken to compromise product quality and these systems are 100% newly documented. The resulting products represent tremendous value and utility to the end user PVD sputtering system marketplace. With the design of the new MVT-900/MVT-600 series sputtering system product line, MAT-VAC is a legitimate Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) of sputtering equipment in its own right.

MAT-VAC Technology, Inc. has the legal right to produce its own engineered version of these sputtering systems utilizing re-engineered original MRC chassis or 100% new. All Engineering Documentation is completely MAT-VAC Technology, Inc. created from a "clean slate" basis. No current (non-expired) patents or intellectual property belonging to any other company is utilized by MAT-VAC Technology, Inc. in manufacturing these sputtering systems.

This NEW family of in-line load lock batch sputtering system products are MAT-VAC systems... they are NOT MRC or any other OEM′s sputtering systems.

Since their introduction in 2005, MAT-VAC has already successfully fielded over 12 of it′s new MVT-900/MVT-600 series sputtering systems. All of these systems are in production and fully process qualified by customers.

It makes good sense to go with MAT-VAC′s products both from an operational performance and economic standpoint. In today′s very competitive business environment, why pay more than you absolutely have to?

In past OEM designs the control system was built in as an integral part of the chassis. This meant that the engineering of each control system was unique to that particular system. For a different type of system (vertical vs. horizontal vs. round) the control system had to be completely re-engineered, debugged, and implemented.

However, MAT-VAC Technology′s breakthrough is in the design of a single control system, the Universal Sputterer™ that consolidates all of the functions of the system into a single, smoothly integrated rack and control system. This allows your operators to learn one interface no matter how many different systems you actually have. Additionally the web centered design of the software allows you to monitor and generate reports on multiple systems from a single web based reporting station. The Universal Sputterer™ even allows connection into your network based production control systems.

MAT-VAC has not only redefined the control systems, but has also completely redesigned the chassis themselves. The vast majority of the control electronics in all types of systems (MVT-900/MVT-600 Series) are common, allowing economies of scale in the production and better quality in the components making up the systems. Industrial grade PLC from GE Fanuc is used. This gives your company world-wide parts availability and "no tools" module interchangeability for fast troubleshooting and repair. All of the module indicator LED′s are visible behind a smoke color Lexan cover allowing troubleshooting and wiring verification without risk of operator tampering.

While it′s true that the chassis frame, chamber and cover and some chamber internal components are reused, prior to installation they are completely stripped down, cleaned, powder coated (in the case of the chassis frame), and checked for mechanical tolerances and integrity so as to be "like-new" for all intents and purposes.

Other MAT-VAC exclusive innovations are the elimination of all mechanical switches not invacuo, replacing them instead with advanced optical interrupter modules and optical encoders. This has also eliminated literally yards of chain and hundreds of contaminate generating moving parts from the systems, increasing the over all system reliability as well as reducing dramatically the particulate sources in your clean-room. Literally thousands of particle producing chain links have been eliminated over the original MRC OEM design. Additionally the lack of switches and dogs removes wear points and the potential for failure and generation of particulates in the workplace.

The MAT-VAC systems feature the original MRC dual level load lock pallet design, where the pump down and sputtering of two different pallets can occur at once. This allows you to "fold" the pump down time into the sputter time so that your system runs at maximum throughput. Depending on your process recipe requirements and your choice of a Load Lock Hi-Vac setting, these can almost DOUBLE the throughput of your sputterer as compared to a single pallet system.

The modular design of the system also means that the control rack is completely severable from the chassis without tools. This eases both shipment and any subsequent relocation of the system. Built in LED indicators in all of the optical switches make troubleshooting/testing a snap!

Non-contacting optical switches eliminate wear and assure that once the system is aligned, the alignment will remain indefinitely since no moving parts contact the switches themselves.

The elimination of so many components from the carrier drive system also greatly reduces the load on the motor — extending the life of the motor and giving smoother motion overall. Carrier speed is calibrated electronically, no more little slips of paper and stopwatches! You can precisely calibrate the drive system at the speed actually used for sputtering. Typically speeds are accurate to fewer than 2% at the calibration speed with less than 1% achievable! Smoother, more precise speed control leads DIRECTLY to improvements in your final film quality.

RF equipped systems also include advanced auto-tune features with "Learn" capability to allow your process engineers to maintain optimum power coupling even under dynamic sputtering conditions.

Complete automation includes "one button" recipe initiation and fully automated valve and pallet handling. Maintenance functions have also been addressed with automatic re-gen on the Cryo Pump(s). This allows your operator to initiate a re-gen and then return to find the system cold with the gate valve open and pumping down with no operator intervention.

The PC used for the graphics display is a low cost Commercial, Off the Shelf (COTS) one that can easily be integrated into your existing network and can be spared and replaced in minutes. Standard Windows™ PC′s mean that training is simple and familiar to your staff. Recipe file formats are ASCII and can be easily transferred off the dedicated Universal Sputterer™ PC and onto your existing PC′s without conversion headaches or special media. The supplied software comes on Windows™ CD-ROMs and the documentation can be installed on the maintenance staff′s or process engineer′s normal work PC′s for ease of reference and printing. Touch screens are optional making operations even simpler. Color coding make operations intuitive and allow an operator to note trends based solely on color from a distance without having to read the individual parameters.

Speaking of documentation, MAT-VAC′s documentation is world class. All documentation is web oriented so that all of the information about the system is just a few clicks away. The documentation browser is integrated into the GUI and in an integral part of the system. The complete system is at your finger tips from the operators guide to the detailed maintenance drawings and all related parts and manuals. The documentation is extensively illustrated with multi-media content showing certain critical or typical operations. The documentation is hot linked and interconnected so that your staff can rapidly locate any and all of the necessary materials. Our documentation staff has experience in creating MIL-STD quality drawings and related documentation. "Component level" documentation is provided allowing your maintenance staff to rapidly locate the exact vendor of any component in the system. This also speeds repairs since components can generally be ordered directly from their manufacturer — No being held "hostage" and forced to pay markup on what are essentially stock parts. This allows your staff to build an maintain a common component inventory independent of MAT-VAC. Bring the volume purchasing discounts available to YOUR company to the purchase of spares!

High reliability components are used throughout. From the industry leader GE Fanuc for the PLC modules, to the locking AMP circular connectors to the UL and NEMA rated outlets, only the best components are used to insure that failures are infrequent and that repairs are rapid. The wiring is all new with every crimp tested to withstand a 10# pull test. UL components are used whenever possible. The internal wiring is of the highest industrial quality.

The Universal Sputterer™ was designed with ease of service in mind. From the drop down master connector panel that forms a work shelf to the modular manifold for the electro-pneumatic valve actuators to the use of quick disconnect air and water fittings to the "no tools" roughing lines, easy/fast maintenance was designed in from the ground up. PLC indicators are visible from the front of the system so I/O testing is easy and simple. Extensive indicators and LED′s show the status of all valves on the front panel and the system can even detect things like low air pressure to the chassis.

The Diagnostic Maintenance Panel (DMP) is another MAT-VAC feature. It not only has switches and indicators for the manual operation of the valves, pumps and motion systems, it also provides an integral Digital Panel Meter (DPM) for monitoring system analog voltages. It even includes an uncommitted Analog AUX input for your maintenance staff to measure voltages with the built in meter. The elegant white on black legends with clear LED′s maximizes the contrast between an illuminated and non-illuminated LED. Switches and LED′s are naturally grouped with double indicators (one in the field, one adjacent to the switch — both at the same level) makes operations easy and error free. Extensive (bypassable) valve interlocks act to protect vacuum. Flipping on, say, the vent gas with the cryo gate open will automatically close the cryo gate before opening the vent valve. DMP indicators are tracked by the color-coded valve indicators on the GUI. Safety LED′s are provided for the motion systems as appropriate and test and diagnostic routines are embedded in the system. Manual motion is precise and repeatable due to the intelligent "auto move" programming of the PLC. This allows indexing of the elevator and carrier to the next logical "stop" instead of forcing the operator to "jog" into position. Naturally "jog" features are also available when needed.

As to voltages, the Universal Sputterer™ uses operator safe +24VDC for all internal components and I/O signals except stand alone power for the instrumentation. The control rack is designed to be "hand safe". The +24VDC power supply is short circuit protected and will not cause circuit breakers to trip, fuses to blow or wires to melt if accidentally shorted. The power supply will also self restore when the shorting condition is removed.

Another MAT-VAC innovation is the elimination of igniters. This not only simplifies the system but it also reduces the number of openings into the chamber thus reducing the potential for leaks. Plasma ignition is assured by "gas burst". This causes the gas pressure to rise momentarily when the plasma power supply is turned on. This assures ignition without the necessity of glow wires.

Advanced data logging allows your production staff to document each sputter event with an easy to read graph that tracks all critical parameters. The logs can be centralized from multiple machines and printed for lot documentation. Additionally the Graphical User Interface (GUI) software allows the Universal Sputterer™ to tie into your network based production control system during a recipe. This allows your operators to enter production data as it occurs. The unique "cook counter" allows each run to be identified and tracked over the life of the machine.

When you buy MAT-VAC the education is built in. All systems come with intensive, formal class room and "hands on" onsite training in sunny Florida at the "Worlds most famous beach" — Daytona Beach — for up to four (4) of your staff for between two and four days depending on model and options. Read actual class and customer feedback HERE!