  Magnetron sputtering is a widely used physical vapor deposition technique.
Reactive sputtering is used for the deposition of, e.g, oxides, nitrides and
carbides. In fundamental research, versatility is essential when designing or
upgrading a deposition chamber. Furthermore, automated deposition systems are
the norm in industrial production, but relatively uncommon in laboratory-scale
systems used primarily for fundamental research. Combining automatization and
computerized control with the required versatility for fundamental research
constitutes a challenge in designing, developing, and upgrading laboratory
deposition systems. The present article provides a detailed description of the
design of a lab-scale deposition chamber for magnetron sputtering used for the
deposition of metallic, oxide, nitride and oxynitride films with automated
controls, dc or pulsed bias, and combined with a coil to enhance the plasma
density near the substrate. LabVIEW software (provided as Supplementary
Information) has been developed for a high degree of computerized or automated
control of hardware and processes control and logging of process details.
