Multilevel Distributed Embedded System for Control of the DC Magnetron Sputtering Process

The paper presents in detail a unique multilevel control architecture designed for the comprehensive management of the DC magnetron sputtering process and of all subsystems of the sputtering equipment. The ultimate goal is to increase the repeatability, stability and the controllability of the complex process. The presented topics include embedded and distributed electronics, data acquisition and supervisory control, networking, data management, redundant local and remote data-archiving. There are presented platform independent algorithms managing the data exchange between computational devices, and conclusions are drawn regarding the efficiency of the various algorithms used.