Vacuum web coating is a strong industrial sector for sputtering and covers the spectrum from low-end applications to high technology display and solar cell production. The technique has great advantages in terms of productivity and end use adaptibility. Invariably a higher quality product can be produced on rigid substrates such as glass, but a flexible substrate is lower cost and can be processed and then transported to the point of final use or integration, much more cost effectively than a rigid product. The cost of the production machine is also a large factor - an high temperature ITO glass coating line for high-end display products will be 4x more expensive to produce and run compared to a web-coater solution based upon PEN for example.

The main drawback with web-coating is the temperature limitation for the substrate material. Usually materials such as PET, PEN and polyimide will have a temperature scale for production in the 80-250C range. Where an acceptable performance can be achieved from a product produced in this temperature range, web-coating will be a very strong candidate as an ecconomic production means.

The design and manufacture of sputter cathodes for vacuum web applications require some specific considerations. Gencoa have built up considerable experience in this field and have produced a wide range of designs from small single cathodes to very large dual cathodes with reactive gas systems and cantilever tilt adjust. Although some variations are possible, the basic requirements are as follows: