Vacuum Technology & Coating product showcase includes power supplies used in a wide variety of vacuum-based production deposition and coating applications.

Deposition and coating systems require extremely dependable power supplies. Fortunately, a wide array exists to fit virtually any application. With increasingly demanding deposition and coating system requirements, and the ever present cost considerations for industrial and scientific applications, the expectations for power supplies increases.

Power supplies provide outputs of DC or AC in a wide range of power levels. Power supplies can have primary outputs ranging from very low to hundreds of kilowatts with frequencies from DC to 13.56 MHz or beyond. Depending upon the application, voltage or current regulation may be more important. Current ratings also can range from low to very high. These are but a few considerations when selecting a power supply.

Options Abound

How crucial is size and are matching networks and cooling systems needed? What kind of output programming and control are needed and what specific computer or network digital interface needs must be met? There are many choices to meet the user needs.

With DC supplies, there are steady and pulsed outputs. Typical DC power options include high-current, high-voltage and voltage-regulation. Pulsed DC supplies, for example, can improve surface uniformity in applications such as semiconductor wafer copper plating.

For AC supplies, many factors must be considered. High-frequency power sources must deliver reliable power for continuous, demanding use in vacuum applications including vacuum processing such as PVD, RF sputtering, plasma etching or deposition and reactive ion etching.

Very Reliable Power Required

Analytical instrumentation power supply voltage requirements can range from just a few volts to several hundred thousand volts, often with multiple critical voltages in a particular instrument. Standard and custom high voltage power supplies are used in instruments for spectroscopy and many other analytical imaging and process applications. Voltage ripple (or lack thereof), stability over time, repeatability and accuracy are factors to consideration if reliable scientific data are the goal. For analytical instrumentation used in production process control, reliability is very important.