Patent ID: 7578908

Claim:
A sputter coating system comprising: a vacuum chamber; means for generating a vacuum in the vacuum chamber; a gas feed system attached to the vacuum chamber; a gas plasma forming system attached to the vacuum chamber comprising a radio frequency antenna and an electromagnet; a system for confining and guiding a gas plasma within the vacuum chamber; a sputter target assembly located within the chamber, the target assembly having an external cross-section defined by an outer surface of the target assembly, with the material to be sputtered forming at least the outer surface of the target assembly and positioned such that the outer surface is surrounded by the plasma within the vacuum chamber; and a system for applying a negative polarity voltage to the surface of the material to be sputtered such that sputtering occurs into a deposition area defining a cylinder surrounding the target, wherein said gas plasma forming system is attached to the vacuum chamber remote from the target assembly and accelerates plasma electrons to ionizing energies by the interaction of the radio frequency antenna and a magnetic field generated by the electromagnet, the gas plasma forming system having an exit to the vacuum chamber and a plasma generation region that is tubular at said exit to the vacuum chamber.