Online adjustment of magnet bars in magnetrons

An assembly for controlling a magnetic structure of a magnetron sputter apparatus, the assembly being connectible to an end block of the magnetron sputter apparatus and comprising:

• an elongate support structure and, coupled to the support structure,
• at least one control unit, at least one storage device and at least one actuator for locally adjusting a position and/or orientation of the magnetic structure,
• wherein an input connector of the at least one control unit is operatively connectible to a trigger unit disposed distantly to the assembly, and
• wherein the at least one control unit is configured to:
• load control inputs from the at least one storage device, wherein control inputs comprise setpoints for the at least one actuator or data required for the calculation of setpoints for the at least one actuator,
• determine a control trajectory for the at least one actuator based on the control inputs,
• generate a control signal or sequence of control signals for the at least one actuator in accordance with the control trajectory, and
• synchronize a transmission of the control signal or the sequence of control signals to a driver circuit of the at least one actuator with at least one trigger signal from the trigger unit, said at least one trigger signal being indicative of a position of a substrate relative to the magnetic structure.

A method of sputter-coating a moving substrate, using a magnet bar assembly for a magnetron sputter apparatus, the magnet bar assembly comprising at least one actuator for locally adjusting a position and/or orientation of an elongate magnetic structure of the magnet bar assembly, the method comprising:

• storing control inputs in a storage device arranged inside the magnet bar assembly, wherein the control inputs comprise setpoints for the at least one actuator or data required for the calculation of setpoints for the at least one actuator,
• loading the control inputs from the storage device into a control unit arranged inside the magnet bar assembly,
• receiving an external trigger signal from a trigger unit disposed distantly to the magnet bar assembly, said external trigger signal being indicative of a position of the substrate relative to the magnetic structure,
• executing a control program on the control unit to determine a control trajectory for the at least one actuator based on the control inputs, generate a control signal or a sequence of control signals for the at least one actuator in accordance with the control trajectory, and synchronize a transmission of the control signal or the sequence of control signals to a driver circuit of the at least one actuator with the external trigger signal,
• adjusting the position and/or orientation of magnetic structure while sputter-coating the moving substrate, by driving the at least one actuator in accordance with the control signals or the sequence of control signals.