Practical magnetron sputtering system for the deposition of optical multilayer coatings

J. A. Dobrowolski (1931-2013): in memoriam

J. A. Dobrowolski, or George, as he was known to his friends and colleagues, passed away on February 12, 2013 in Ottawa, Ontario. George was a leading pioneer in the field of optical thin films. His work stretched over 60 years beginning with his graduate studies in 1953, and he impacted all areas of research in this field. This in memoriam outlines both his professional career and personal life; as befitting George, there is a comprehensive list of his numerous publications in books, papers, and patents. An in memoriam talk on George's life and career was presented at the 2013 Optical Interference Coatings Conference held in Whistler, B.C., Canada on June 16-21, 2013.

High-rate automated deposition system for the manufacture of complex multilayer coatings

A previously described automated thin-film deposition system based on rf-magnetron sputtering could deposit quite complex optical multilayer systems with good precision and with no one in attendance [Sullivan and Dobrowolski, Appl. Opt. 32, 2351-2360 (1993)]. However, the deposition rate was slow, and the uniform area on the substrate was limited. We describe an ac-magnetron sputtering process in which the same deposition accuracy has been combined with significantly better film uniformity and a fivefold or sevenfold increase in the deposition rate. This makes the equipment of commercial interest. Experimental results are presented for several difficult coating problems.

Design and manufacture of all-dielectric nonpolarizing beam splitters

Past research on all-dielectric nonpolarizing beam splitters is reviewed. It is shown that, for a 50-nm spectral region, it is possible to design and manufacture a two-material nonpolarizing plate beam splitter for use at an angle of 45 degrees (with a measured rms reflectance of 0.50 +/- 0.01 for both s- and p-polarized incident light).

Implementation of a numerical needle method for thin-film design

A variant of the powerful thin-film needle design technique, which was first described by Tikhonravov and his co-workers, is described. In this method thin layers are introduced at optimum positions within the refractive-index profile of a given multilayer system. In the original method the optimum locations for the layer insertions are calculated analytically, whereas in this variant of the method they are determined numerically. This approach, although somewhat slower, is very flexible. With the numerical needle method it is easy to define a merit function that consists of quite complex spectral quantities, such as Commission Internationale de l'Eclairage color coordinates or custom spectral properties that are defined at run time. In the program described, three different absorbing or nonabsorbing materials can be used for the needle layers and one or more needles can be inserted into the system at any given time. Multilayer solutions can also be sought in which the system is defined in terms of repeating groups of layers. It is also possible to calculate automatically a series of solutions to a particular problem with increasing overall thicknesses or to perform simultaneous calculations on several different systems. Examples are given that illustrate these various points.

Optimal single-band normal-incidence antireflection coatings

Mathematical and computational evidence that strongly suggests that optimal solutions exist to single-band, normal-incidence antireflection coating problems is presented. It is shown that efficient synthesis and refinement techniques can quickly and accurately find such solutions. Several visible and infrared antireflection coating examples are presented to support this claim. Graphs that show the expected optimal performance for different representative substrates, refractive-index ratios, wavelength ranges, and overall optical thickness combinations are given. Typical designs exhibit a pronounced semiperiodic clustering of layers, which has also been observed in the past. Explanations of this phenomenon are proposed.

Metal/dielectric transmission interference filters with low reflectance. 2. Experimental results

The successful fabrication of metal/dielectric multilayer filters requires not only accurate control of the individual layer thicknesses, but also a good knowledge of the optical constants of the materials used in the filters. In the case of metal films, it is also essential to know whether any transition layers are formed at the interfaces and, if so, how their thicknesses and optical constants depend on the deposition conditions. An automatic, real-time process control, magnetron sputtering deposition system was modified to permit the manufacture of metal/dielectric filters using optical monitoring techniques. To illustrate the performance of this system, two bandpass filters, a short-wavelength pass filter, and a neutral density filter were produced, all having a low reflectance for light incident on one side. The metal layers used in these filters consisted of either Ni or Ag. TheAg films could be protected from the O(2) plasma using thin Ni or Si films. Good agreement was obtained between the calculated and measured spectral transmittance and reflectance curves.

Optical transfer function measurment facility for aerial survey cameras

The optical transfer function measurement facility developed at the National Research Council of Canada primarily for testing aerial survey cameras has been upgraded to perform the task in an appreciably more convenient manner. Modifications made to the facility, which is based on the line spread function technique, include the replacement of the cumbersome physical scanning mechanism and detector unit with a detector assembly comprising a relay lens and a linear photodiode array. While eliminating the need for physically scanning the line spread function, it did require a change of light source, a daylight filter, and a new computer software package. The new setup is described in this paper. Several aerial survey cameras have been evaluated with the system, and results are given for a fairly standard Zeiss camera.

Extreme-ultraviolet Mo/Si multilayer mirrors deposited by radio-frequency-magnetron sputtering

Mo/Si multilayer mirrors with a high reflectance at normal incidence in the 130-135-Å spectral region have been deposited by rf magnetron sputtering. A new and quick technique was used to calibrate the deposition rates. Characterization by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and grazing-incidence x-ray diffraction (XRD) indicated good thickness control of the deposition process and low interface roughness. However, the TEM and, indirectly, the XRD reflectance measurements, indicated that the interfaces are asymmetric. A brief review discussing the origin of the modulation of the Bragg peak intensities in the XRD reflectance is given. An analytical formula was derived for periodic multilayers that describes the effect of asymmetric interfaces on the amplitude of the Bragg peak modulation. Theoretically, in XRD reflectance measurements, any asymmetry in the interdiffusion of the Mo-Si interfaces results in a decrease of the usual amplitude modulation of the Bragg peaks. Extreme-ultraviolet (XUV) reflectance measurements were also made with synchrotron radiation on a new high-resolution reflectometer. The near-normal-incidence peak reflectances measured at λ = 134 Å were ~ 59% for the best multilayer mirrors. Good fits to both XRD and XUV reflectance measurements have been obtained with a model that allows for interface asymmetry.

Optical properties and environmental stability of oxide coatings deposited by reactive sputtering

Refractory metal-oxide coatings are deposited by reactive dc magnetron sputtering in an oxygen environment. The optical constants and the environmental stability of silicon oxide, aluminium oxide, hafnium oxide, zirconium oxide, tantalum oxide, titanium oxide, and a blend of hafnium oxide with silicon oxide are investigated. Properties of both single-layer and multilayer interference filters are examined.

Deposition error compensation for optical multilayer coatings. II. Experimental results-sputtering system

A fully automated magnetron-sputtering system for the deposition of complicated optical multilayer structures is described. The process control includes the real-time determination of the deposited layer thicknesses and adjustment of the remaining layer thicknesses to reoptimize the final performance of the multilayer system. With this deposition system it should be possible to produce almost any all-dielectric filter that can be designed, subject only to limitations imposed by time, cost, and mechanical stability of the coatings. To demonstrate the performance of the deposition system, five complex multilayer systems were fabricated. The theoretical and measured spectral transmittance curves of these multilayer systems closely agree with one another over broad spectral regions. The equipment is capable of unattended operation over periods of 24 h or more.

High performance optical wavelength multiplexer-demultiplexer

The principle of an optical wavelength multiplexer-demultiplexer is described in which the signals undergo repeated reflections from special filter elements that can be designed for a wide range of cross-talk ratios. The insertion losses of these units can be quite small and they can be implemented to provide simultaneous multichannel two-way transmission. In a preliminary investigation of an experimental prototype an insertion loss of 0.5 dB and a cross talk of -35 dB were demonstrated. The multiplexer-demultiplexer is expected to have a long life and high reliability.