Speedflo

Perfect your reactive processes with Speedflo, an advanced reactive feedback control system delivering improvements to deposition rates, coating properties and process reliability. Speedflo is designed around the demands of real processes and has been proven on hundreds of different industrial plasma-based deposition machines – each with varying demands.

Perfect your process

With two options available – offering a choice of 8 channels for Speedflo, or 3 channels for Speedflo Mini – Speedflo has the flexibility to benefit a wide range of reactive processes, from magnetron sputtering to PECVD deposition.

Speedflo auto-tune

Achieving high performance control of your system is a quick and easy process using Speedflo. A patented, state-of-the-art automatic controller tuning procedure provides optimum controller parameters for your process at the click of a button. The auto-tuning procedure is fast and effective – and works within any system or sensor configuration.

After performing an integrated system calibration and identification procedure, the auto-tuner instantly generates the optimum controller parameters for your process by using advanced inverse dynamics algorithms to analyse the collected data.

The whole procedure takes a couple of minutes and is perfectly suited to the demands of actual processes.

Support & Technology

Gencoa can provide remote or on-site assistance to help optimize your processes, with local support available in UK, USA, Germany, China and Taiwan. The level of support and process know-how complements Gencoa’s complete reactive gas and process control set-up that includes magnetrons, gas bars, and controllers.

Sensors

Speedflo and Speedflo Mini can each be configured with a combination of sensor options from a selection of available sensors:
• Target voltage (HIPIMS option available)
• PEM in-situ (HIPIMS option available)
• Spectrometer (not available for Speedflo Mini)
• PEM ex-situ (Penning)
• Lambda for O² only

Speedflo Simulator

Replicate the Speedflo user interface using a tool that provides a dynamic simulation of the Speedflo system. Benefitting from Gencoa’s in-depth understanding of process control, the software simulates the effect of Speedflo features such as controller gains and calibration parameters, in addition to system characteristics such as gas delivery pipe length.

The simulator is a highly effective tool and can improve the system user's understanding of feedback control, as well as the operation of the Speedflo system.

Speedflo Configuration

With two versions of base unit and a wide choice of sensor options available, Speedflo can be configured to perfectly suit many industrial processes.

Hardware options

The Speedflo controller is available in two options to suit different requirements: Speedflo, which has 8 sensor inputs and 8 MFC actuator outputs; and Speedflo Mini, which has 2 sensor inputs and 3 MFC actuator outputs.

The two controllers have identical algorithms and control software, but differ in the number of available inputs and outputs. Both controllers have ethernet connectivity for straightforward communication with the software interface.

Sensor options

Speedflo comes with a number of sensor options, available in a wide range of configurations.

Plasma Emission Monitoring (P.E.M)
The visible light from the plasma contains information of all the species present via the optical emission spectrum. To monitor the intensity of any element in the plasma, a narrow band-pass filter can be used to allow through only the wavelength of light of the material or gas of interest.

P.E.M CCD
The plasma light can be captured by a CCD-type spectrometer which provides a universal picture of the process. For control purposes, the wavelengths of interest are electronically filtered and input to the controller. This type of tool delivers more information, however the integration time of the spectrometer slows down the feedback speed compared to the conventional band-pass P.E.M method.

Remote P.E.M (Penning P.E.M)
Gencoa’s Penning P.E.M sensor enables remote monitoring of plasma emission levels, and is ideal if substrate interference is problematic with conventional P.E.M sensors. A small plasma is generated remotely in the Penning gaugehead. A conventional P.E.M sensor can then be used to measure light intensity at a wavelength of interest. This represents the excess gas from the process.

Lambda
The Lambda sensor is an oxygen probe which provides a direct signal of the oxygen concentrations present in the vacuum. The Gencoa Lambda sensor provides a robust signal with good response speeds. Like P.E.M, it can provide information from multiple monitoring zones down the target length.

Target voltage
A convenient sensor from the process is the target voltage output from the magnetron power supply. This can be used for some material combinations as a stand-alone signal or in addition to a secondary signal such as P.E.M. Successful materials for this type of sensor are silicon and aluminium oxides and nitrides.

HiPIMS
Gencoa has developed sensor technology that enables the control of reactive HiPIMS processes for reproducible depositions and stable system performance.

Speedflo - Reactive Feedback Control System

Speedflo's technology is continuously being developed, pushing the operating window and helping end-users to get even more from the process.

Control algorithm

Speedflo utilizes a proprietary advanced PDF+ control algorithm that is capable of extremely fast and accurate feedback control. In addition to the PDF+ algorithm the Speedflo controller features a digital variable structure control law that is able to maintain fast-acting and stable control, even when the MFC becomes fully open or closed. This enables feedback control that is high performance, robust and reliable.

Multiple control channels

The Speedflo controller has up to eight fully featured and independent control channels. This allows for simultaneous feedback control of eight MFCs, with options to combine various sensors and duplicate control channels. This powerful capability is especially useful for large target areas where precise deposition uniformity must be achieved.

Advanced user interface

A highly developed software interface includes many powerful functions to allow different methods of configuring the process control and combating difficult control situations. All of the software functions can be seamlessly incorporated into an existing PLC system.

Speedflo autotune

Achieving high performance control of your system is a quick and easy process using Speedflo.

A proprietary, state-of-the-art automatic controller tuning procedure provides optimum controller parameters for your process at the click of a button. The auto-tuning procedure is fast and effective – and works within any system or sensor configuration.

After performing an integrated system calibration and identification procedure, the auto-tuner instantly generates the optimum controller parameters for your process by using advanced inverse dynamics algorithms to analyze the collected data.

The whole procedure takes less than two minutes and, thanks to Gencoa’s unique combination of process and control expertise, is perfectly suited to the demands of real processes.

The following video shows an example of the auto-tuner during a AlOx reactive sputtering process using dual rotatable targets and with three commonly-used sensor types: Lambda oxygen sensor, target voltage sensor, and plasma emission monitoring (PEM) sensor.