A perspective of magnetron sputtering in surface engineering

Magnetron sputtering is a very powerful process which is now currently and successfully used in many applications, particularly in microelectronics and surface engineering, for the production of films and coatings. Magnetron technology is: however, continuously developing because new advanced films with prescribed physical and functional properties are needed. This paper reports on duplex coatings, nanocomposite coatings, high-rate magnetron sputtering and self-sputtering, i.e. new advances in magnetron sputtering technology which are of great importance for the future development of surface engineering. A great deal of attention is devoted to (i) the coating/substrate interface, (ii) the magnetron sputtering of nanostructured coatings with new properties due to small grains of about 10 nm and smaller and (iii) the replacement of ecologically damaging galvanic coating processes by high-rate magnetron sputtering and self-sputtering. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.