Method and system using power modulation for maskless vapor deposition of spatially graded thin film and multilayer coatings with atomic-level precision and accuracy

A system, including:

• a vapor deposition apparatus including a vapor deposition source operable at each of a number of applied power levels and having a known flux distribution at each of the applied power levels, a substrate, a rotatable platter to which the substrate is mounted, and a platter drive assembly coupled to the platter and configured to rotate the platter to sweep the substrate across the source;
• a programmed computer programmed with software implementing a user interface for selecting a source flux modulation recipe for achieving a predetermined thickness profile of a film deposited on the substrate as a result of sweeping said substrate across the source with a constant sweep velocity while the source is operated in accordance with said source flux modulation recipe, wherein the computer is configured to generate control signals in accordance with the selected source flux modulation recipe;
• and
• a controller coupled to the programmed computer and to the vapor deposition source, and configured to operate the vapor deposition source in response to the control signals generated by the computer.