The present invention provides a support that comprises: an electrically conductive biased table; an insulating electrostatic substrate carrier 20 in the form of a cylinder having a shoulder 21, the bottom face of the substrate carrier 20 facing the biased table and its top face 22 presenting a bearing plane designed to receive a substrate; and an electrically conductive clamping collar for clamping the shoulder 21 against the biased table. The support also has at least one electrically conductive element 201-202-203 for connecting the bearing plane to the shoulder 211.

Provided is a chamber system for solid free form fabrication, the chamber system having a deposition chamber, a service chamber and one or more loading/unloading chambers. The chamber system allows for a more efficient and cost effective process to service the deposition apparatus, load holding substrates, and unload workpieces without requiring having to adjust the atmosphere in the deposition chamber.

Provided is a chamber system for solid free form fabrication, the chamber system having a deposition chamber, a service chamber and one or more loading/unloading chambers. The chamber system allows for a more efficient and cost effective process to service the deposition apparatus, load holding substrates, and unload workpieces without requiring having to adjust the atmosphere in the deposition chamber.

A method of depositing a film on a substrate is provided. The method includes positioning the substrate on a substrate support in a chamber and depositing the film on the substrate using a DC magnetron sputtering process in which an electrical bias signal causes ions to bombard the substrate. The substrate support includes a central region surrounded by an edge region, the central region being raised with respect to the edge region, and the substrate is positioned on the central region so that a portion of the substrate overlays the edge region and is spaced apart therefrom.

A method of depositing a film on a substrate is provided. The method includes positioning the substrate on a substrate support in a chamber and depositing the film on the substrate using a DC magnetron sputtering process in which an electrical bias signal causes ions to bombard the substrate. The substrate support includes a central region surrounded by an edge region, the central region being raised with respect to the edge region, and the substrate is positioned on the central region so that a portion of the substrate overlays the edge region and is spaced apart therefrom.

A system includes a computational system to receive a design of an integrated computational element (ICE) including specification of substrate and layers. Additionally, the system includes a deposition source to provide a deposition plume having a plume spatial profile, and a support having a cylindrical surface. The cylindrical surface of the support is spaced apart from the deposition source and has a shape that corresponds to the plume spatial profile in a particular cross-section orthogonal to a longitudinal axis of the cylindrical surface of the support, such that, when the substrate support, with the supported instances of the substrate distributed over the cylindrical surface of the substrate support, is translated relative to the deposition plume along the longitudinal axis of the cylindrical surface of the substrate support, thicknesses of instances of each of the deposited layers are substantially uniform across the plurality of instances of the ICE.

A system includes a computational system to receive a design of an integrated computational element (ICE) including specification of substrate and layers. Additionally, the system includes a deposition source to provide a deposition plume having a plume spatial profile, and a support having a cylindrical surface. The cylindrical surface of the support is spaced apart from the deposition source and has a shape that corresponds to the plume spatial profile in a particular cross-section orthogonal to a longitudinal axis of the cylindrical surface of the support, such that, when the substrate support, with the supported instances of the substrate distributed over the cylindrical surface of the substrate support, is translated relative to the deposition plume along the longitudinal axis of the cylindrical surface of the substrate support, thicknesses of instances of each of the deposited layers are substantially uniform across the plurality of instances of the ICE.

A tensioning device, including a base configured to carry a mask plate, a clamp configured to clamp the mask plate, and a deformation adjusting assembly provided on the base or on the clamp, wherein the deformation adjusting assembly is configured to adjust a deformation of an end portion of the mask plate protruding from the base in a direction of gravity when the base carries the mask plate, so as to make the deformation less than a preset deformation threshold. A base, a clamp and a clamping for the mask plate are also provided.

A tensioning device, including a base configured to carry a mask plate, a clamp configured to clamp the mask plate, and a deformation adjusting assembly provided on the base or on the clamp, wherein the deformation adjusting assembly is configured to adjust a deformation of an end portion of the mask plate protruding from the base in a direction of gravity when the base carries the mask plate, so as to make the deformation less than a preset deformation threshold. A base, a clamp and a clamping for the mask plate are also provided.

An apparatus for contactless transportation of a device in a vacuum processing system is described. The apparatus includes: a magnetic transportation arrangement for providing a magnetic levitation force (F.sub.L) for levitating the device, the magnetic transportation arrangement comprising one or more active magnetic units; a sensor for monitoring a motion of the device, and a controller configured for controlling the one or more active magnetic units based on a signal provided by the sensor.