SBIR Phase I: Automatic Sweep Pattern Generator for Precision E-beam Deposited Optical Coatings to Overcome E-beam System Non-linearities

该小型企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段项目将开发第一个用于生产规模电子束沉积系统的自动扫描图案发生器，该系统将能够更好地控制层光学厚度，提高许多关键应用的光学涂层性能。 电子束沉积的光学薄膜是一种用于电信、国防、卫星和高能激光器的技术。 然而，电子束工艺受到由涂覆材料的不均匀蒸发引起的涂覆层厚度变化的限制，并且需要均匀的电子束扫描图案。 该项目将使用热成像能力和新提出的设计理论来开发一种自动扫描模式发生器，从而实现更均匀的蒸发。 除了通过允许更均匀的耗尽来减少需要大量源材料利用的应用的层厚度变化之外，这种新的图案发生器将能够从源坩埚实现更高精度的涂层和更多层的沉积。 该项目的战略是利用公司广泛的工艺知识和行业合作伙伴，在使用简单、易于集成到生产系统中的产品中实现重大价值。该项目的更广泛影响/商业潜力将在光学涂层性能方面实现，这是一项使许多关键精密光学应用成为可能的技术，包括高能激光器、光刻、电信、国防和卫星。电子束真空沉积由于其上级经济性和工艺通用性而主要用于生产这些涂层。然而，在增加层的数量的同时，该行业不断要求对层厚度和成分的更严格的公差。 新兴的外国竞争需要优化生产目标，如产量，质量和成本。 如果美国制造业要继续在18亿美元的高端精密光学涂层市场中发挥领导作用，就必须收紧公差并降低成本。 国内电子束系统供应商正在努力与销售预配置高精度工艺的交钥匙镀膜系统的外国供应商竞争。 由于开发先进工艺的难度，这些外国供应商能够收取溢价。 为了促进生产中的先进工艺开发，供应商寻求提供具有先进仪器的高精度系统，包括可编程扫描控制器和光学监视器。 自动扫描模式发生器将与这些组件协同工作，以实现可自动优化的高精度系统。

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will develop the first automated sweep pattern generator for production scale electron beam deposition systems that will enable better control over layer optical thickness, improving optical coating performance for many critical applications. Electron beam deposited optical coatings are an enabling technology for telecommunications, defense, satellites, and high energy lasers. However, the electron beam process is limited by coating layer thickness variation resulting from uneven evaporation of the coating material and requires uniform electron beam sweep pattern. The project will use thermal imaging capabilities and a newly proposed design theory to develop an automatic sweep pattern generator that will enable more uniform evaporation. In addition to reducing layer thickness variation for applications requiring significant source material utilization by allowing more uniform depletion, this new pattern generator will enable higher precision coatings and deposition of more layers from a source crucible. The strategy is to leverage the company's extensive process knowledge and industrial collaborators to deliver significant value in a product that is simple to use and easily integrated into production systems.The broader impact/commercial potential of this project will be realized in optical coating performance, an enabling technology for many critical precision optics applications including high energy lasers, lithography, telecommunications, defense, and satellites. Electron-beam vacuum deposition is dominantly used to produce these coatings because of its superior economics and process versatility. However, the industry is constantly demanding more stringent tolerances on layer thickness and composition while increasing the number of layers. Emerging foreign competition necessitates optimizing production objectives such as throughput, quality, and cost. U.S. manufacturing must both tighten its tolerances and lower its costs if it is to continue to play a leadership role in the 1.8 billion dollar high-end precision optical coating market. Domestic e-beam system vendors are struggling to compete with foreign vendors who sell turn-key coating systems with high precision processes pre-configured. These foreign vendors are able to charge a premium due to the difficulty of developing advanced processes. In order to facilitate advanced process development in production, vendors seek to provide high precision systems with advanced instrumentation including programmable sweep controllers and optical monitors. The automated sweep pattern generator will work synergistically with these components to enable a high precision system that can be optimized automatically.