Magnetic position and length measurement

Flexible deposition of magnetic materials with attractive coating rates

For the reliable production of smooth and compact layers, all sputtering processes are generally suitable. Particularly for magnetic materials, however, the widely used magnetron sputtering can only be deployed to a very limited extent, as these materials invalidate the functional principle of the magnetron. Hollow-cathode gas-flow sputtering, in contrast, is highly suitable for the deposition of magnetic materials. As a magnetic-field-free high-rate sputtering process, it can also be utilized to economically produce layer thicknesses of several tens of micrometers.

 

You too can profit from our expertise in the field of development of coating sources and implementation in coating processes and facilities

Hollow-cathode technology has been developed at the Fraunhofer IST over decades and in various applications, thereby being advanced to market maturity in some cases. Gas-flow sputtering is the method of choice when it comes to the economical deposition of magnetic layers with thicknesses in the range of up to several tens of micrometers.

Further information

 

The Fraunhofer IST in the trade press

Publication

Ralf Bandorf, Kai Ortner, Marco Krau

PVD-Abscheidung von CoSm-Schichten für magnetische Maßstäbe.

In: Vakuum in Forschung und Praxis, Volume 32, Issue 5, October/November 2020

 

From research

Magnetic layers with gas flow sputtering

Magnetic layers have been established as reliable and highly accurate information carriers, for example, in hard drives or on swipe cards. But even for mechanical and electromechanical elements, magnetic layers offer a great potential for measuring the position, speed or angle of moving parts in operation. Soft and hard magnetic layers for different applications have been developed at the Fraunhofer IST.

 

Press release

Hard-magnetic coatings for high-precision microscopy

Special microscopes, which enable scientists to view minute cell structures, are an indispensable tool in the development of vaccines and new therapies. Hard-magnetic coatings from the Fraunhofer IST help enable the examination of minuscule cell structures in precise detail and at great speed.