Roll to Roll Sputtering

The development of custom film solutions for demanding applications like biosensors, requires experience, expertise and the right-equipment. Saint-Gobain Custom Films has been the trusted partner of many international companies when it comes to designing high quality sputtered films. Thanks to our wide-web sputtering capabilities and patented vacuum coating technologies, we can deposit a variety of materials like metals and alloys on a broad range of different substrates.

Depositing precious metals or complex stacks onto thin polymeric substrates require a tightly controlled manufacturing process. We precisely control the gases in the plasma, deposition rates and all wide-web handling equipment. Our experienced team of Scientist and Research Engineers are here to support you with the design of optical vacuum coatings, the optimization of cost-effective coatings as well as application testing.

For our PreciseAU™ Biosensor Films, we apply our latest breakthrough vacuum coating technology that allows us to achieve the same film surface resistivity levels while using a smaller amount of precious metals during the sputtering process. This provides our customers with significant cost savings and reduces their exposure to volatile precious metal spot prices. Click here to learn more about PreciseAU™ Biosensor Films.

Core Competencies:

  • Wide-web roll to roll sputtering and web handling
  • Optical modelling and stack simulation expertise
  • Application testing
  • State of the art process controls
Sputtering unit
Thanks to our wide-web sputtering capabilities and patented vacuum coating technologies, we can sputter a variety of materials like metals and alloys on a range of different substrates

Sputtering Capabilities Overview

Materials

Precious Metals

  • Gold (Au)
  • Palladium (Pd)
  • Platinum (Pt)
  • Silver (Ag)
  • Alloys

Non-Precious Metals

  • Alloys (e.g. Copper-Chrome-Zirconium)
  • Aluminum (Al)
  • Chrome (Cr)
  • Copper (Cu)
  • Inconel 600
  • Indium (In)
  • Nickel Alloys (e.g. NiVa)
  • Niobium (Nb)
  • Silica (Si 90%, Al 10%)
  • Stainless Steel (SS)
  • Tin (Sn)
  • Tin-Bismuth (Sn-Bi)
  • Titanium (Ti)
  • Titanium Alloys (e.g. Titanium-Tungsten)
  • Tungsten (W)
  • Zirconium (Zr)

Ceramic/Dielectric Metals

  • AZO
  • Copper Nitride (CuN)
  • Indium tin oxide (ITO)
  • Niobium Oxide (NbOx)
  • Silicon Dioxide (SiO2)
  • Silicon Nitride (SiN)
  • Titanium Nitride (TiN)
  • Titanium Oxide (TiOx)
Substrates
  • Aluminum foil
  • Fluoro polymer films
  • Non-woven
  • Polyamide-Kapton
  • Polyester Film
Surface Modification / Pre-Treatments Plasma treatment
Application Process Roll to roll wide-web sputtering

  • Non-reactive (metal)
  • Reactive (oxide, nitrogen)
Equipment Five roll to roll wide-web sputter coaters
Multi-Cathode System Up to 6 chambers

  • Planar
  • Rotatable
Substrate Thickness 1/2 mil - 15 mil (12μ - 375μ)
Roll Width Up to 77" (1.95m)
Roll Diameter (OD) Up to 32"
Process Controls
  • Inline non-contact sheet resistance
  • Inline optical monitoring visible and near-IR (up to 1,500nm)
    • Transmission, Reflection
    • Color
  • RGA
  • Historical data-logging of all critical process parameters