Verfahren zur reaktiven Beschichtung

In the reactive coating according to the magnetron principle, the characteristics of the deposited layer are to be kept constant over the entire duration of use of a target irrespective of the erosion state or even after a target change. The process is also to be applicable to magnetron atomization sources with different partial discharge ratings from several parts of an existing target. Prior to coating the substrates, the magnetic field strength allocated to each subtarget is adjusted without reactive gas. Thereafter, a default set of values of characteristic measured quantities are adjusted by controlling the reactive gas flow. During the subsequent coating process, the default set of values for each subtarget are kept constant by the adjustable reactive gas flow. Depending on the duration of target use, the first two steps are repeated at specific time intervals. With this process, optical coatings or corrosion protection coatings can be produced by reactive coating.