Adam Obrusnik, PlasmaSolve s.r.o., Brno, Czech Republic
The Czechia-based company PlasmaSolve is a pioneer in developing high-accuracy simulation tools for industrial PVD and PECVD processes. The models leverage the best of machine learning, data mining and physics/chemistry simulation. The multi-disciplinary approach enables various types of studies which are not feasible with simulation software alone, for instance:
• Transferring coating recipes between coaters with virtually no trial-and-error
• Adapting coating recipe parameters for different form factors of coated parts.
• Simulation-driven design of materials – finding working points leading to the best performance characteristics of a material (hardness, residual stress, lattice parameter)
• Coater design and improvement (cathode erosion, deposition uniformity, gas manifold design)
In this contribution, we outline several success stories for the process models and equipment models developed by PlasmaSolve. We also introduce to the community the MatSight Apps – a modern simulation framework that the users can use to solve the most common challenges in equipment design and process design. As of 2023, the following MatSight Apps are available:
1. MatSight Coating Uniformity App – Predicts thickness distribution on 3D parts.
2. MatSight Sputtering App – Allows tuning of coating zone and large-scale uniformity e.g. in inline coaters.
3. MatSight Target Erosion App – Predicts erosion of planar or cylindrical sputter cathodes.
4. MatSight Gas Flow Apps – Predict gas flow in vacuum equipment.
5. MatSight Global Plasma Model – Enables global assessment of the process energy efficiency and material utilization. For PECVD processes, it provides insight into the chemical pathways.
6. MatSight Digital Twin – Integrated suite enabling prediction of coating properties based on the recipe and also automated design of recipes.