Veeco Instruments, an equipment manufacturer for hard disk drives, solar cells, LEDs and optoelectronics, has unveiled an ion beam deposition system called the SPECTOR-HT at the SPIE Photonics Europe Trade Show in Brussels, Belgium.
SPECTOR-HT Ion Beam Deposition System (Photo: Business Wire)
The SPECTOR-HT produces thin film coatings for optical applications. The ion deposition system delivers up to 50% increase in material uniformity, 300% improvement in target utilization, and 400% rise in throughput when compared to earlier versions of SPECTOR. Moreover, it offers superior film quality and is a cost-efficient production platform for numerous optical applications such as telecommunications, biomedical devices, life sciences, lasers and precision optics.
According to Veeco Instruments, the SPECTOR-HT is the first completely automated ion beam deposition system in the industry. The new system’s deposition rates are equivalent to that of physical vapor deposition systems and it creates optical films for difficult production needs without compromising quality. It provides an improved deposition rate on lots having sizes up to double that in earlier SPECTOR generations.
Veeco Ion Beam Equipment’s Executive Vice President, Robert P. Oates stated that the company has installed more than 200 systems across the world, making it a dominant ion beam deposition coating provider for the optical market. The SPECTOR-HT ion beam deposition system offers unprecedented throughput benefits and is a more cost-efficient system than other optical deposition technologies, including ion assisted deposition, evaporative coatings and physical vapor deposition.